Biblical Archaeology — 533 discoveries that run alongside the Bible
Every major archaeological discovery connected to the biblical story, from the first digs of the 1800s to this year's finds: steles, seals and bullae, coins, inscriptions, cities, tombs, scrolls and sacred sites. For each one: what it is, who found it and when, where it is today, why it matters, the Hebrew word to learn, and the one to three Bible verses where it comes alive.
80 discoveries name a person from the Bible — David, Omri, Ahab, Jehu, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah's scribes, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Caiaphas, Pilate, Gallio, Erastus and more — on stone, clay, papyrus and coins. See them →
Beginnings & the Patriarchs
Egypt & the Exodus
Merneptah SteleConquest & Judges
Deir Alla Balaam InscriptionShaul, David & Shlomo
Bubastite Portal of Shoshenq I (Shishak)
Megiddo Shoshenq Stele FragmentIsrael & Judah
Tel Dan SteleAramean victory inscription naming the 'House of David' · found 1993
Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone)King Mesha of Moab's own account of his revolt against Israel · found 1868
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser IIIJehu of Israel bowing before the Assyrian king — the only known portrait of an Israelite king · found 1846
Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III'Ahab the Israelite' and 2,000 chariots at the Battle of Qarqar · found 1861
Shalmaneser III's Annals of 841 BCEThe Calah bull and marble-slab texts recording Hazael's defeat and Jehu's tribute · found 1846
Nimrud Slab of Adad-nirari IIIAssyria lists 'the land of Omri' among its tributaries · found 1854
Tell al-Rimah Stele'Jehoash the Samarian' pays tribute to Adad-nirari III · found 1967
Annals of Tiglath-Pileser IIIMenahem's tribute, Pekah's overthrow, Hoshea's appointment, and 'Jehoahaz of Judah' · found 1845
Sargon II's Khorsabad Annals'I besieged and conquered Samaria... 27,290 people I carried away' · found 1843- קֶשֶׁרNimrud Prism of Sargon IIA second Assyrian telling of Samaria's fall and the exile of its people · found 1952
- חוֹתָם'Jezebel' SealAn opulent Phoenician-style seal that may — or may not — have belonged to Ahab's queen · found 1964
Seal of Shema, Servant of JeroboamA roaring lion and the name of a royal official of Jeroboam II, from Megiddo · found 1904- נָבִיאTel Rehov 'Elisha' Ostracon and Nimshi InscriptionsThe prophet's name inked on a sherd in a ninth-century house near Abel-meholah · found 2013
Zakkur SteleA king of Hamath saved from 'Bar-Hadad son of Hazael' — Ben-Hadad III in stone · found 1903
Hazael Booty Inscriptions (Arslan Tash Ivory and Samos Horse Frontlet)Luxury goods marked 'for our lord Hazael', carried off as plunder across the ancient world · found 1928
Bar-Rakib SteleA vassal king of Sam'al who boasts of serving 'my lord Tiglath-Pileser' · found 1891
Uzziah Tablet'Here were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Do not open.' · found 1931- מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָהBulla of Ahaz, King of Judah'Belonging to Ahaz (son of) Jehotham, king of Judah' — a royal seal impression with no findspot · found 1995
- עֶבֶדSeal of Ushna, Servant of AhazA carnelian seal of a royal official of King Ahaz · found 1940
Royal Steward Inscription (Shebna's Tomb?)'This is the tomb of ...yahu who is over the house' — a Jerusalem tomb Isaiah may have condemned · found 1870- הוֹשֵׁעַSeal of Abdi, Servant of HosheaThe only Israelite object naming Israel's last king · found 1995
Judah, Babylon & Exile
Royal Bulla of Hezekiah'Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz, king of Judah' — the king's own seal impression · found 2009- נָבִיאThe 'Isaiah' BullaSeal impression reading 'Yesha'yah[u] nvy[?]' — the prophet, or a man named Navi? · found 2009
Sennacherib's Prism (Taylor, Chicago and Jerusalem Prisms)Assyrian annals: 'Hezekiah the Judean I shut up like a bird in a cage' · found 1830
Lachish Reliefs of SennacheribWall carvings from Nineveh showing the Assyrian siege of a Judean city · found 1847- סֹפֵרHouse of Bullae and the Gemariah son of Shaphan BullaFifty-one seal impressions baked hard in the fire of 586 BCE, one naming a scribe from Jeremiah 36 · found 1982
- שַׂרJehucal son of Shelemiah BullaSeal of the royal official who was sent to Jeremiah and later had him thrown in a cistern · found 2005
- חוֹתָםGedaliah son of Pashhur BullaSeal of a second official from Jeremiah 38, found beside the Jehucal bulla · found 2008
- הַסֹּפֵרBaruch son of Neriah Bulla (unprovenanced)'Belonging to Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu the scribe' — Jeremiah's secretary, if genuine · found 1975
Nathan-Melech, Servant of the King BullaSeal of an official named in the story of Josiah's reform · found 2019- גָּלוּתBabylonian Chronicle BM 21946 (the 'Jerusalem Chronicle')Nebuchadnezzar's own dated record: Carchemish 605 and the capture of Jerusalem, 2 Adar 597 BCE · found 1896
Nebo-Sarsekim TabletA Babylonian temple receipt naming an officer from Jeremiah 39:3 · found 1920
Jehoiachin Ration TabletsBabylonian palace records of oil for 'Yaukin, king of the land of Judah' and his sons · found 1899
Ishtar Gate and Processional Way of BabylonNebuchadnezzar's glazed-brick gateway, the Babylon the exiles walked into · found 1899
East India House Inscription of NebuchadnezzarThe king's own account of rebuilding Babylon's temples, palaces and walls · found 1803
Nabonidus Cylinders and the Nabonidus ChronicleThe texts that rescued Belshazzar from the charge of being a biblical invention · found 1854- אֶרֶזNebuchadnezzar's Wadi Brisa InscriptionRock reliefs in Lebanon where the king boasts of cutting cedars — Habakkuk's 'violence of Lebanon' · found 1883
- מִצְפָּהTell en-Nasbeh (Mizpah) and the Jaazaniah SealGedaliah's capital after 586, and the seal of a captain named in 2 Kings 25 · found 1926
Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal Prisms Naming ManassehAssyrian tribute lists that include 'Manasseh, king of Judah' · found 1927- חֶרֶבThe Murder of Sennacherib in Assyrian and Babylonian RecordsEsarhaddon's account of his father's assassination by his brothers — Isaiah 37:38 from the Assyrian side · found 1927
Return, Persia & the Maccabees
Cyrus CylinderCyrus the Great's clay proclamation of his capture of Babylon and the return of exiled peoples and their gods · found 1879
Nabonidus ChronicleBabylonian chronicle recording the night Babylon fell to the army of Cyrus · found 1879
Behistun Inscription of Darius IDarius the Great's cliff-face account of how he won the throne, and the key to reading cuneiform · found 1835- בִּירָהPalace of Darius at Susa (Shushan)The royal citadel where the book of Esther is set, with its Apadana and garden court · found 1851
- אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁInscriptions of Xerxes (Ahasuerus)Royal texts of the king of Esther, including the 'Daiva' inscription and the Gate of All Nations · found 1935
Elephantine PapyriAramaic letters of a Jewish garrison in Egypt that name Sanballat, Johanan the priest and a temple of YHW · found 1893
Wadi Daliyeh (Samaria) PapyriLegal documents of Samaria's elite naming a later Sanballat, found with the bones of refugees from Alexander · found 1962- הָעַרְבִיSilver Bowl of 'Qainu son of Geshem, King of Qedar'An Arabian votive bowl from the Egyptian delta naming the son of Nehemiah's enemy Geshem · found 1947
Yehud CoinsThe first Jewish coins, tiny silver pieces stamped 'YHD' for the Persian province of Judah · found 1814
Hasmonean Coins of John Hyrcanus and Alexander JannaeusThe bronze prutot of the Maccabean priest-kings, with 'Yehohanan the High Priest' and Jannaeus's anchor and star · found 1864
Heliodorus SteleSeleucus IV's order that put Heliodorus over the temples of Judea, the man of 2 Maccabees 3 · found 2005
Coins of Antiochus IV EpiphanesSilver tetradrachms of the king who desecrated the Temple, styling himself 'God Manifest' · found 1800
Tomb of the Bene Hezir Priestly InscriptionA Hasmonean-era rock tomb in the Kidron naming a family of priests from the biblical course of Hezir · found 1865
Herod, Yeshua & Jerusalem's Fall
Pilate StoneLatin dedication naming 'Pontius Pilatus, Prefect of Judea' · found 1961- טַבַּעַתThe 'Pilate' Ring from HerodiumCopper-alloy ring reading 'of Pilatus' in Greek, found 1968–69 and read in 2018 · found 1969
Caiaphas OssuaryOrnate bone box inscribed 'Yehosef bar Kayafa' from a priestly family tomb · found 1990- מַעַזְיָהMiriam Daughter of Yeshua OssuaryLooted ossuary naming 'Miriam daughter of Yeshua son of Caiaphas, priest of Maaziah from Beth Imri' · found 2011
- אָחJames Ossuary'Yaakov bar Yosef, brother of Yeshua' — an unprovenanced box at the center of a forgery trial · found 2002
'Alexander Son of Simon' Ossuary (Cyrene Tomb)A bone box from a tomb of Cyrenian Jews that may name the son of Simon who carried the cross · found 1941
Tribute Penny (Denarius of Tiberius)'Whose image is this?' — the silver denarius with Caesar's portrait · found 1900
Coins of Pontius PilateSmall bronzes with Roman priestly symbols, minted in Jerusalem under Pilate in 29–31 CE · found 1900- טֶטְרַרְךְCoins of Herod Antipas and Herod Agrippa IBronze coins of the Gospel-era Herods — Tiberias palms and Agrippa's canopy · found 1900
The Apostles & the Early Believers
Gallio Inscription (Delphi)Letter of Emperor Claudius naming Gallio proconsul of Achaia — the anchor date for Paul's ministry · found 1905
Erastus Inscription (Corinth)Pavement laid by an aedile named Erastus — possibly Paul's friend the city treasurer · found 1929- נְצִיבSergius Paulus InscriptionsStones from Cyprus, Rome, and Pisidian Antioch naming the proconsul who believed · found 1887
- טֶטְרַרְךְLysanias Tetrarch Inscription (Abila)Temple dedication naming 'Lysanias the tetrarch' in the reign of Tiberius · found 1737
Inscriptions of Agrippa II and BerniceStones from Beirut and Athens naming the royal pair who heard Paul at Caesarea · found 1927
Coins of Felix and FestusSmall bronze coins struck by the two governors who kept Paul in prison at Caesarea · found 1864- גֵּרוּשׁLetter of Claudius to the Alexandrians (P.Lond. 1912)Papyrus decree of 41 CE on Jewish–Greek strife — context for Claudius' expulsion of Jews from Rome · found 1921
- שֻׁלְחָןMegiddo Prison Church MosaicThe earliest known Christian prayer hall, with a mosaic dedicated 'to God Jesus Christ' · found 2005
Tomb of Peter beneath St Peter's BasilicaA 2nd-century shrine over a simple grave, with the graffito 'Petros eni' · found 1940- עֵדSarcophagus of Paul at St Paul Outside the WallsThe Ostian Way tomb inscribed 'To Paul, apostle and martyr' · found 2006
Gaza Synagogue and the 'King David' MosaicA 6th-century synagogue floor showing David with a lyre, found by chance in 1965 · found 1965
Grotto of St Paul and the Thecla Fresco, EphesusA hillside cave with the oldest painted image of Paul found in Asia · found 1906- נֶצַחNicopolis: Augustus' Victory Monument at ActiumThe 'City of Victory' where Paul planned to winter, and the trophy that founded it · found 1913
No discovery matches that. Try a shorter word, a person (David, Pilate), a place (Jericho, Lachish), or a kind of find (seal, coin, ossuary).