(In Pics) Grounding the Bible: 10 Old Testament Figures that We Know Existed

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Is the Bible a historical document? The short answer is no, but to say this without elaborating is almost as misleading as to insist on the Bible being literally true from cover to cover.

The fact is, the Bible is an amalgamation of different texts from different sources, collected and composed for the first time in the 7th century BC by the Israelite king Josiah (just before he started to believe the hype and got himself killed fighting Egypt). The date of composition is important, because the Bible relied on oral tradition and the collective memory of the peoples of Israel and Judah.

Josiah was an Iron Age king, and it is no coincidence that the people for whom we can find corroborating evidence were near contemporaries (within a few hundred years, at least). But there is a clear distinction between the Iron Age events mentioned, which are likely historical, and the earlier Bronze Age events (Garden of Eden, flood, the Exodus) which are not.

It is also important to note that we are making new discoveries all the time. A new Iron Age find could blow the entire situation wide open, and could come at any time.

Here is where we are now, though.

1. Omri: the First Person to be Directly Corroborated

This is the Mesha Stele, from around 840 BC. Mesha was a Moabite king and the stele contains a list of his achievements. However it starts by noting how the Moabites had been sorely pressed by attacks from the Israelite King Omri. Omri is only a passing character in the *Bible, but there he is, and now we can say he was a real person (Louvre Museum /* *CC BY-SA 4.0*)

2. King David: the Earliest Hebrew King to be Mentioned

*Firstly, let us be clear. There is no evidence for the* *King David* as he appears in the Bible, the story of his life, or his accomplishments. However, the Tel Dan Stele mentions a Judean King “of the House of David”. This stele is dated to roughly a century after David would have ruled, but this would mean that there was at least *a* King David who ruled Judea (Oren Rozen / *CC BY-SA 4.0*)

3. Jehu: The First Depiction of a Biblical King

*This is the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, depicting the triumphs of a Neo* *Assyrian* Emperor in the mid-to-late 9th century BC. The chap kissing the ground at Shalmaneser’s feet is King Jehu of Israel, who is shown as thoroughly subordinate to the Assyrians. This is the start of a number of Biblical events and characters who are also recorded in Assyrian archaeology, and we are moving on to firmer historical ground. But Jehu was first, the first Israelite king for whom we have a picture (British Museum / *CC BY-SA 3.0*)

4. Tiglath Pilesar III: The First Non-Hebrew King who Featured in the Bible

Like we said, we are on firmer ground with the Assyrians. Tiglath Pilesar III is the first character that we know of first from archaeology, but who also receives serious consideration in the Bible. Mentioned in both Kings and Chronicles, the latter giving him his full name and making identification beyond a doubt, we know a great deal about this king from extra-Biblical sources. From this point onward, it seems the *Biblical* *events are largely corroborated by Assyrian history (Unknown Artist /* *Public Domain*)

5. Isaiah, the First Character who isn’t a King

This is believed to be the site of the Biblical “ophel” within Jerusalem, and in the early 1980s excavations found a seal ring here referring to “Isaiah Navi”. This could just be a common name, but “Navi” also means “prophet” and many believe this could be evidence for the Biblical *Prophet* Isaiah. This would make Isaiah the first non-royal from the Old Testament to appear in the archaeological record. Another seal ring, referring to Hilkiah, priest in the reign of Josiah (yes, the one who wrote the Bible) has also been found (Joe Freeman / *CC BY-SA 2.5*)

6. Esarhaddon and Sennacerib: the First Palace Gossip

By now in the timeline the kings of Judah and Israel are being corroborated left and right by Assyrian sources, most of which note how the Assyrians are great conquerors and how much tribute they are receiving from said kings. One tablet, known as the Prism of Esarhaddon, contains a little detail regarding the Assyrian succession: Esarhaddon, Tilgath’s great grandson, ascended when one of his brothers *killed* *his father Sennacherib. And the Bible notes this too: it would seem that, by this point at least, they are faithfully recording events (Zunkir /* *CC BY-SA 4.0*)

7. Shoshenq: the First Pharaoh

*Remember when we said that Tiglath was the first non-Hebrew king to be featured in the Bible? Well, we lied, sort of. This is the Bubastite Portal, which records the victories of* *Pharaoh* Shoshenq I across the Middle East, including Jerusalem, in the 10th century BC. Shonshenq is almost certainly the Biblical Shishak, and his inclusion tells us something else very telling. Shoshenq lived before every other person on this list, and came from a time of unreliable information. The compilers of the Bible may have forgotten everything else of this time, but they remembered Egypt and her attack (Olaf Tausch / *CC BY 3.0*)

8. Nebuchadnezzer II: Conqueror of the Hebrews

Nebuchadnezzer, described in this Babylonian tablet as “King of Justice” is the first of two great rulers who have central parts to play in the story of the Judean people. At this juncture we are jumping forward, both in the timeline and in composition, to after a period known as the Babylonian Exile. Nebuchadnezzer, called “Destroyer of Nations” in the Old Testament, did indeed destroy the Kingdom of Judah and carried off the Jewish upper classes from Jerusalem to *Babylon. All books of the Bible from this point on are written after the exile, where Nebuchadnezzer is cast as a feared and hated figure (Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) /* *CC BY-SA 4.0*)

9. Belshazzar: the first Massaging of History

The problem with corroborating sources is that they will catch you in a lie. And the problem with the compilers of the Bible after the Babylonian Exile is that they weren’t above massaging the truth in search of a compelling narrative (which some might see as an understatement). According to the Bible and to everyone else, the Babylonian Exile ended with the *Persians* of Cyrus the Great conquering Bablyon in the time of Belshazzer, last Babylonian King. The Bible says Belshazzar was the son of Nebuchadnezzer, but other sources like the above tablet all point to him being his great-grandson. Perhaps the Bible wanted to minimize the period of the Babylonian Exile, making it look like the Jews returned to *Jerusalem* *after a decade or so, rather than almost a century (Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) /* *CC BY-SA 4.0*)

10. Cyrus the Great

*So, if the Bible hated the Babylonians who had conquered and imprisoned them, what did they think of Cyrus the Great, the man who conquered* *Babylon* and set them free? Well, they called him the Messiah. The Decree of Cyrus, speaking of religious tolerance, is recorded in the Old Testament in full on two separate occasions. And for those of you who thought there was only one Messiah, and he came later, we would suggest you take a second look at the Old Testament. There are more messiahs than you might think (Suernae / *CC BY-SA 4.0*)

Top Image: The tomb of Cyrus the Great, who freed the Jews from Babylon in the Old Testament and the figure to whom they gave their title “Messiah”. Source: Zythème / Public Domain.

By Joseph Green

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Joseph Green

Joseph Green is editor for Historic Mysteries, which combines his background in English Literature with a lifelong fascination for the strange and the unexplained. Read More