Archaeology: New Discoveries

One of the more interesting things about many recent archaeological discoveries is how often they result in significant changes in our understanding of those who preceded us. And from my own very amateur observations, most of these changes seem to tell of societies that were more advanced technologically and socially than previously thought. Indeed, I can't recall an instance where the discovery led archaeologists to the opposite conclusion: that the people being studied were actually more primitive than they had thought. As I said, I'm no professional, so there probably are some cases of such unmet expectations, but I suspect they are relatively rare.

I bring this up because of a brief article I read on the Archaeology Daily News website which discusses recent finds in Syria. It seems a joint Syrian/U.S. archaeological excavation uncovered an Ubiad settlement "located at the crossroads of two major trade routes in the rich bottomlands of the Euphrates river valley." The Ubiad period in Mesopotamia roughly covered the years 5,500 to 4,000 B.C. and was, therefore, prehistoric. Accordingly, it preceded such society-changing inventions as the wheel and writing. And yet, based on the findings of this excavation, the archaeologists involved have come to the conclusion that these prehistoric people "engaged in trade [with other societies], processed copper and developed the first social classes based on power and wealth." According to the article, the archaeologists "unearthed important evidence for monumental architecture, widespread irrigation agriculture, copper metallurgy and long distance trade in luxury goods." In other words, the experts have determined that these ancient folks were a lot smarter and more organized than previously thought.

An example of Ubiad copper work unearthed in the Syrian excavation

We find this same thing happening in the field of biblical archaeology. Inevitably, the experts who have habitually considered the peoples of the Bible (especially the ancient Hebrews) to be woefully primitive, must eventually eat their words, or try to formulate new incorrect theories, based on the findings of the excavations of biblical sites. This, of course, only reveals more clearly the historical biases that consistently distort the past -- the kind of bias that results in the intellectually insulting garbage one encounters on cable channels like The History Channel or The Discovery Channel. One form of this bias is a "temporal bias" that, quite simply, assumes the people of the past were a lot dumber than us. The other is just sheer religious bigotry of a kind that strives to undermine the historical foundations of Judeo-Christian belief in general and the truth of the Bible in particular. Because these biased beliefs are not based on scientific accuracy and the truth, they will always be proven wrong.

Anyway, it's all very interesting...

By the way, the archaeology website mentioned above sends out a daily email notice to folks like me who are interested in what's happening in the field. If you share this interest, I recommend subscribing. Click here to join their mailing list.

Blessings...