What has archaeology found?
A great deal. Archaeologists have confirmed dozens of people the Bible names, from kings of Israel and Judah to the governor who sentenced Jesus.12 This catalog gives each artifact and ancient text its own page: what it is, where it is now, what it shows, and what it doesn’t.
The catalog
| Object or text | Date | Where it is now | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tel Dan Stele | 9th century BC | Israel Antiquities Authority | An Aramean king’s victory inscription that names the “house of David” |
| Great Isaiah Scroll | 2nd or 1st century BC | Israel Museum, Jerusalem | All 66 chapters of Isaiah, copied before Jesus was born |
| Pilate Stone | AD 26-36 | Israel Museum, Jerusalem | Pontius Pilate named as prefect of Judea |
| Tacitus on Jesus | About AD 116-120 | A text: Annals 15.44 | A Roman historian reports that Christus was executed under Pilate |
How to read a catalog page
Every Evidence page opens with a label, like the card beside an object in a museum: what it is, when it was made, where it was found, what it says, and where it is now. Then it explains what the object shows and, just as important, what it doesn’t show. Evidence that’s real can stand that kind of honesty.
More evidence, coming to the catalog
These are already part of the case, and each will get its own page:
- The Merneptah Stele, an Egyptian monument from about 1207 BC with the earliest mention of Israel outside the Bible.3
- King Hezekiah’s seal, the first seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king found in a scientific excavation.4
- Sennacherib’s annals, the Assyrian king’s own account of his campaign against Hezekiah of Judah.5
- The Caiaphas ossuary, the Pool of Siloam, the Cyrus Cylinder, the Gallio inscription, and the earliest New Testament manuscripts.
For how these fit together, see Is the Bible reliable?
Sources
- Lawrence Mykytiuk, “53 People in the Bible Confirmed Archaeologically,” Biblical Archaeology Society, updated March 22, 2026. ↩︎
- Lawrence Mykytiuk, “30 People in the New Testament Confirmed,” Biblical Archaeology Society, February 9, 2025. ↩︎
- Center for Online Judaic Studies, “Stelae and Reliefs of Pharaoh Merneptah, c. 1207 BCE,” accessed Oct. 11, 2026. ↩︎
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “Impression of King Hezekiah’s royal seal discovered in excavations in Jerusalem,” ScienceDaily, December 2, 2015. ↩︎
- Center for Online Judaic Studies, “Hezekiah’s Defeat: The Annals of Sennacherib on the Taylor, Jerusalem, and Oriental Institute Prisms, 700 BCE,” accessed Oct. 11, 2026. ↩︎