I think it is a healthy thing to go digging for physical evidence of the reason for your faith.

Faith is a beautiful thing, but it should not be blind. Our faith should be built on evidence. For me, the very first evidence of a holy God was creation and sensing his presence.

As a small, four-year-old child, I had never been to church. Yet, there was something about the name and mention of God that always rang true for me. I immediately knew to look up at the sky when my neighbors said His name. Belief was instinctual for me. (You can read more about my story of faith here.)

I feel like it was a privilege to discover faith in God basically on my own. Many people struggle thinking, “Do I only believe this because it’s how I was raised?”

I don’t think how you are raised is the only reason why you believe whatever you believe. There’s so much more to it than most people realize.

From the time I was eleven years old and up, I took to reading the Bible for myself to learn what God’s word says. I needed to examine it for myself.

Then somewhere in adulthood, I wanted to know even more about the past of the Bible.

What evidence is there to go along with these stories? Are there other historical accounts that agree with the Bible? What else do we know? Are there artifacts?

Oh boy, are there ever artifacts!

The more I read about it and see it for myself, the more I enjoy Biblical Archaeology. It pains me so much that there is a war going on in Israel. I worry about Israel remaining a country, and I am concerned for all of the preserved places. War always destroys historical keepsakes, if you will. Plus, I hate that we are all too scared to go tour Israel now.

One of the easiest ways to read about archaeological evidence for the Bible is to order a few books on the topic.

Not all Bible history books are created equal, obviously. There are some I’ve learned much from but didn’t enjoy, and I gave those to Goodwill.

Today I’m going to share only five of my favorites with you.

These five are both informative and interesting. Each of these books has earned its spot on my bookshelves, and I guarantee you could learn a lot from them too. I cannot keep too many books in our home because we move so much, and books are heavy.

Let’s start with my number one pick.

#1. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler

This book is the ultimate resource for learning about how the Bible was translated, preserved, documented, and evidenced. It is an exhaustive source for going into details on archaeological discoveries relating to the Bible.

I confess I have not read the entire book yet. It is so in depth and lengthy, and my attention span is like a butterfly. Instead, I use this one to look up any antiquity or event I’d like to learn more about. To me, it never seems like there’s enough information available on the topic of Biblical history online.

The Popular Handbook was published in 2013, over ten years ago. Therefore, it is missing all of the things discovered in that time gap, and you would not believe how many discoveries have been made just since 2013. For more recent discoveries, check out books number two and three on this list.

If you would like a book that will answer many of your questions about the Bible and what artifacts have been found, this is the one for you.

Here are a few topics covered well in this book:

• Reliability of Old Testament manuscripts
• The Dead Sea Scrolls
• How the New Testament came to be
• Reliability of the New Testament
• Archaeological Evidence of Old Testament Events such as the Flood, the Exodus from Egypt, and King David
• Old Testament People who were confirmed by archaeology, in graphs
• Non-Christian accounts of Jesus
• Archaeological evidence for Jesus
• The Temple Mount
• Finds relating to the New Testament

This is such an excellent resource to have on hand. If you teach any kind of Bible class or have any interest in learning more about the ancient past or how the Bible was written, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. You can buy it here from Amazon, or any book store with a solid religion section. When you purchase through affiliate links on my website, I do collect advertising fees from Amazon.

I am not a Walmart affiliate, but I believe you may be able to get it cheaper at Walmart.

#2. Where God Came Down by Joel Kramer

This book is newer, published in 2020, and I cannot say enough positive things about my experience reading this book.

First of all, Kramer is an archaeologist as well as a Christian preacher. He spent many years living and working in Israel.

Furthermore, Kramer routinely takes people on tours of the Holy Land. Those tours are probably on pause during the current war with Hamas. Don’t despair that you cannot take a trip to Israel though. Kramer has a YouTube channel where he uploads his tours of many historical places in Israel. There are enough videos on there to keep you busy for a while!

Here’s a sample of his YouTube channel/videos:

What makes this book so great:

-easy to read, conversational tone

-engaging, full color photos to go with each archaeological site discussed

-in depth look at important discoveries

Joel Kramer takes ten places, five from the Old Testament and five from the New Testament, and goes into deep details to what is relevant about each place.

A few topics covered in Where God Came Down:

• Abraham
• the Mountain of God
• Jacob’s altar
• Abraham’s burial site
• David’s palace
• Nazareth
• the nativity
• where Jesus was crucified and buried

Kramer focuses on the evidence and the story in each famous individual place and walks you through exactly how this site was preserved over time. He explains why each discovery and fact about the place and the people is significant.

If you are looking for a book where you can read in depth about Christianity’s most famous heroes and places and how we know they are true, this is the book for you.

You can find this book on Amazon. I was dismayed to find that Barnes and Noble does not sell it.

#3. Biblical Archaeology Review magazine

You can get this magazine in the mail or online. Even if you don’t subscribe to the magazine, many of their articles are free on their website.

I have been reading this magazine for years. My favorite article they ever ran was on why the dates for Christmas were chosen. As it turns out, those are not random dates or pagan holidays. You can find the article here.

The tone of this magazine is academic. Some of these articles will be immediately interesting to me, and some will not. However, it is a good way to stay up to date on recent findings. You can also learn about many opportunities to visit dig sites and listen to lectures on the topic of Biblical archaeology.

The magazine always runs articles on interesting artifacts and discoveries. It is a welcome surprise in my mailbox when it arrives.

Specific topics vary with each issue of the magazine. You can visit their website to learn more.

#4. Tried by Fire by William J. Bennett

This book was fascinating. It feels extremely rare to have the opportunity to learn about church history of those first one thousand years of Christianity.

I wrote a whole article about things I learned from this book a few years ago.

This book is thoroughly entertaining because so much of it I had never heard before at all.

Here are a few topics included in Tried by Fire:

• Persecution of the disciples
• before the church was under the authority of Rome
• Influence of early Christian women
• the Codex
• Egypt and the Great Persecution
• Constantine
• Council of Nicaea
• Monasticism
• Pope Leo I
• spread of Christianity
• East/West schism of the church

I highlighted and underlines so many pages of Tried by Fire.

There are so many stories in here that were completely new to me about early church customs and people. It filled so many gaps in my historical knowledge. In fact, I feel like I need to go back and read it again because it’s been a few years since I read it the first time.

You can find Tried by Fire on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

#5. Israel Then & Now by Thomas and M. Cartier

Paintings by S. Rotem, Photographs by z. Radovan, S. Rotem, and Y. Hirshfeld

If you would like a chance to see Israel, how it looks now, as well as how it looked in the past, this is the book for you.

Israel Then & Now is full of present day photos, with an overlay drawing of how each place looked in ancient times.

This is one example of how the book shows you each place and takes you back in time to that same place:

Each photo goes along with a summary of what is important about the places you see in the photos.

Here are few places you will learn about in this book:

• Temple-Mount in Jerusalem
• The Cardo
• Masada
• King Herod’s palace
• Tiberias
• the Galilee boat
• the synagogue of Capernaum
• the Roman Temple in Caesarea
• Meggido

My favorite section of this book is the story of the fishing boat discovered in the Sea of Galilee. It dates back to the exact time of Jesus.

Plus, I love how this book is full of full-color photos and illustrations. If this is the kind of book you enjoy, also be sure to check out the book I wrote about our trip to Israel, as it is also full of full color photos and stories about each place. However, my book does not have the benefit of the overlays of how the places looked in ancient times. That’s what makes Israel Then & Now so unique.

Israel Then & Now is a quick read. You could read it in one sitting and learn so much. You can buy it on Amazon.

I hope you’ve found at least one book in this list that sounds exciting to you.

If you’ve never read any books in this genre before, I would start with Joel Kramer’s Where God Came Down. The book is well written and easy to understand. Plus, the photos are so good, and it covers the ten places that it focuses on in great depth. In fact, it looks like he might make this into a series of books.

With God being taught in less and less places, many people are left not knowing what to believe in. So much doubt has been cast on the things of God. Most people do not realize how much of our beliefs is pure history, and not a matter of faith at all. It is a fact Jesus was a real person who lived two thousand years ago. What you believe about Jesus is where the faith comes in. I don’t think most people realize that.

Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:16:

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

2 Peter 1:16 KJV

I want to challenge you to look up some of these people and places, and you will be amazed at how much evidence there is to support the events reported in the Holy Bible.

These five books are all a solid start to learning about archaeological evidence to support the Bible.

Have you read a book about Bible Archaeology that was so good you’d like to share it with others?

Leave us the title and author of it in the comments section, so we can read it too! I’d be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments as well.

The post Best Biblical Archaeology Books for Exploring Evidence of the Past appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

With thousands of dig sites in Israel, scientists are constantly coming across exciting archaeology finds that support the Bible.

There are books upon books about biblical archaeology. There is even a monthly magazine that reports on archaeological findings that relate to the Bible.

I will link you to some of my favorite archaeology books at the end of this article. But for now, I want to share 10 exciting and relevant artifacts when it comes to the Bible.

When I decided what I believed about this great world, archaeology certainly had zero impact on what I came to believe. I could feel the presence of God before anyone even told me about him, and that was enough for me.

As we get older, we hear so many competing messages about the world and faith.

The atheist voices can feel like the loudest ones. God always held true for me, in spite of what the world had to say about the Christian faith.

So archaeology never led me to faith, but it sure is neat to see these clues to the past, dug up by people who are even more enthused by this process than I am. Even a simple 2,000 year old wine jug becomes a marvel to me. It helps me envision what the wine jugs used by Jesus to turn the water into wine looked like.

Archaeology can excite us, deepen our understanding, puzzle us, and offer its own clues to the past.

These findings can absolutely help validate your faith.

This list of archaeological finds is by no means an exhaustive list. These are just ten that I found inspiring.

***Disclaimer: When you purchase through Amazon links on this website, I do collect advertising fees from Amazon, which hardly ever happens really.****

10 of the Many Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible

#1. The Silver Scrolls

The infographic I made above gives you all of the most important details. The discovery of the silver scrolls proved that yes, the Bible is indeed ancient. The silver scrolls contain scripture from Numbers and Deuteronomy, and they date back to the 6th-7th century BC.

To learn more about these spools found at Ketef Hinnom, read the full article I wrote about them here.

To see a picture of what they look like, go here. I would love to share the photo, but alas I do not have the rights.

When a writing is published is so important because when the writing is published close to the time that things happen, there are living witnesses. So you cannot get away with publishing cleverly made up tales. Only the truth can hold water when published near or during the time it happens.

The apostles of Jesus who wrote their accounts wrote from their real experience as well.

History proves you cannot pretend history never happened. Archaeology discoveries further prove that we should take what the Bible says seriously. It is quite sobering.

#2. The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls have to be the most famous of modern archaeology finds that support the Bible. These scrolls were discovered in 1947, in the limestone caves of Qumran, near the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain parts of every single book of the Old Testament, except for Esther. The Isaiah scroll contains the entire book of Isaiah, written 1000 years before any other copy that we had of Isaiah. It is the earliest known complete copy of any book of the Bible. And this is what is amazing to me: that copy of Isaiah is basically the same as the copy of Isaiah that you have now. God’s word remains unchanged.

The Isaiah scroll dates back as early as the second century B.C.

A fragment of the book of Samuel dates back to the third century B.C. and is written in biblical Hebrew.

The oldest Qumran Bible fragments are of Exodus and Samuel.

This discovery was such a big deal because before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the oldest copies of the Old Testament only dated back to the eleventh century AD. What a huge difference!

Now no one can say that the Bible was written in modern times. We know too much now. These Old Testament works were already alive and well over two hundred years before Christ was born.

Not everything discovered in the caves was scripture. There are also commentaries on the scriptures, small notes, additional books, and lists.

They investigated thirty more caves after the original Dead Sea Scroll discovery. This turned up 10 more caves containing ancient manuscripts. All eleven caves are in the area near the ancient settlement of the Khirbet Qumran. (Source 1, page 103)

These scrolls are in different languages, some in Aramaic, some in Hebrew, and others in Greek. Notably, the Genesis Apocryphon preserves the accounts of the patriarchs in Aramaic. (Source 1, p. 37)

The Messianic Testimony

The Messianic Testimony was written in the first century B.C., so before Jesus. It lists all of the Old Testament passages that refer to the coming Messiah. The list also references the coming Messiah as a three-part office: prophet, priest, and king.

I would like to see a copy of that list. Wouldn’t you? Alas, I could not find one on the internet, but I did not look hard. Let me know in the comments if you find it.

Thanks to the Dead Sea Scrolls, we know that the Hebrew text that we have today of the Old Testament is completely accurate.

These scrolls testify to the reliability of scripture. We have a “faithful copy of the original words penned by the original author, handed down for generations.” (Source 1, p. 46)

Want to learn more about the Dead Sea Scrolls? Check out this article from The Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

My “Source 1” for both the Silver Scrolls and the Dead Sea scrolls:

The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

#3. King Hezekiah & Hezekiah’s Tunnel

The Bible goes into great detail about many of the things that King Hezekiah did during his lifetime, which was about 726-697 BC.

You can read about King Hezekiah in the Bible in 2 Kings 18 and in 2 Chronicles 29-32. Plus, we have found many artifacts from Hezekiah as well.

King Hezekiah went to great lengths to prepare for attack from Sennacherib of the Assyrians in 701 BC. Hezekiah reinforced the wall of Jerusalem with an added on outer wall. Then he diverted the water from the Gihon Spring into the city. This ensured the people in Jerusalem would have water during a long siege from the Assyrians.

Evidence of that broad wall and Hezekiah’s water tunnel are still there today. The wall was an impressive 23 feet wide and 27 feet high.

Young people checking out the tunnel in 1880 discovered a Paleo-Hebrew inscription carved into the tunnel. This is one of the oldest Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions ever found. It dates to the 8th century B.C.

The inscription reads:

“The axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut… and on the day of the tunnel (being finished) the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, ax against ax and flowed water from the source to the pool for 1200 cubits.”

8th century Paleo-Hebrew inscription

We have several more artifacts from Hezekiah.

Hezekiah’s royal seal was found. Plus, the Annals of Sennacherib, dating to 701 BC, tell the story of the Assyrian siege on Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s point of view. It is written in Akkadian cuneiform. If you would like to see a cool photo of it and learn more, see this on historyofinformation.com.

For more on the story of King Hezekiah and how God defeated the Assyrian Army for him without the Israelites having to even fight, go here. You can find it in 2 Kings, chapter 19.

I love that of all the battles, we have both sides of that one recorded.

Source: The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

#4. Oldest Copy of John’s Gospel

The oldest copy of the gospel of John was written in Greek on papyrus in AD 150-200. The entire book did not survive, but most of it did. Actually there are several other copies of parts of John that are about that old. You can learn more here.

This is incredible because it dates the copy back to very near the actual lifespan of the apostle John. If John died in the year AD 99, as it is believed, then this copy dates almost all the way back to his lifetime. Now that is a reliable source.

#5. Tomb of Jesus

There are a couple of different places that claim to be the location of the tomb of Jesus. According to my extensive reading in many books and study Bibles, the one in the picture above is extremely accurate. This was probably exactly where they laid him.

This tomb, that no gets to really see, is under a monument inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem. At the time that they crucified Jesus, this was all outside the city gates. But for modern day Jerusalem, it is inside the city.

In 2016, they restored the enclosure again. A marble cover inside dates back to the AD 300s. This site has been venerated as the tomb of Jesus since at least the 300s. For more on that, see this article.

The Garden Tomb is far more aesthetically pleasing, so it is also a good place to visit to picture what it might have looked like.

I read in Under Jerusalem, by Andrew Lawler, that this other tomb was full of skulls that they dug out in the 1800s and the date does not match the timeline that it could have been an unused tomb in the time of Jesus.

For more photos of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, you can see my article on it here.

#6. The Most Ancient New Testament Manuscripts

I learned the most about these copies of the New Testament gospels from this web page of the Bible Archaeology Report. They were “all written within a lifetime of Jesus”. I love that.

Much like the Dead Sea scrolls, they are tattered looking papyrus fragments. One of these manuscripts was discovered in an ancient garbage dump in Egypt!

All total, there are eleven manuscripts that possibly date back to the 2nd century, and four of them definitely do.

The oldest complete copy of the New Testament is the Codex Sinaiticus. The Codex Sinaiticus was handwritten in Greek in the 4th century AD.

There are no ancient manuscripts as well documented and copied as the Bible. See the article I wrote here to learn more about the reliability of scriptures.

#7. Tel Dan Inscription

The Tel Dan inscription is the first historical evidence of King David, outside of the Bible.

The Tel Dan Inscription is a stone from the 8th century BC. The stone is carved in Aramaic. It tells how the Aramean king from that area defeated the “king of the House of David.”

The writing also described defeating the King of Israel, just as the Bible says that Israel was divided into two kingdoms: Judah (the house of David) and Israel.

Source: Biblearchaeology.org

#8. The Pool of Siloam

The pool of Siloam was uncovered in 2004 when a repair team was excavating a damaged sewer line. (Source: Los Angeles Times) Coins in the original plaster of the pool helped provide an accurate date for the construction of the pool.

In the Bible the pool of Siloam is the place where Jesus healed the blind man. You can read that story in John, chapter 9.

To see a photo of the pool of Siloam today, go here.

#9. Abraham’s Altar at Mamre

¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by ^[d]the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.

Genesis 13: 18

The Bible tell us that Abraham settled at Mamre, where the great trees are, and he set up an altar to the Lord there. Archaeologists believe they have identified Mamre as well as the site where Abraham probably placed his alter. There are even giant holes marking where the large trees once grew.

I read about this in Joel Kramer’s book, Where God Came Down, the Archaeological Evidence. In the book, he provides extensive graphs of the different layers and history of the site.

Joel Kramer also made a video at this very site near Hebron, and I am attaching it below in case you’d like to see.

#10. St. Peter’s House

This is one of my FAVORITES because I actually got to go see this one in person. The ancient town of Capernaum lies in ruins to this day, and we know that Capernaum is where Peter lived, from Matthew 8.

The archaeological evidence surrounding Peter’s particular house is astounding. Not only was it written on the walls that it was Peter’s house. But you can archaeologically see the progression of how this completely ordinary 1st century house was plastered up and turned into a real church. Ordinary dishes were exchanged for larger vessels to serve crowds.

Eventually, in the 1900s, Peter’s house was preserved under this giant church:

It is believed that Jesus stayed in Peter’s house for prolonged periods of time. Then later, Peter’s house became a church. Since the entire village of Capernaum still lies in ruins, we have great access to see it all.

These are a few of the photos I took when we visited, and you can see more in my full post on why Capernaum was our favorite city to visit in Israel.

Actually, I was delighted to find that Joel Kramer has a YouTube video tour the site of Peter’s house as well:

#11. Would you like to read more short articles on Biblical Archaeology finds?

Here are a few more I think you would appreciate.

–The Rosetta Stone enabled people to understand Egyptian hieroglyphs better. With that knowledge, we could understand that ancient Egyptians also referenced stories that agree with what the Bible says.

–The Moabite Stone, also known as the Mesha Stele, mentions going to Israel in battle. It even mentions some of their names. You can read a lot more about that here.

–City of David Stepped Stone Structure.

–Walls of Jericho

I am linking below a couple of my favorite Bible Archaeology books, if you would like to read more.

These two books will tell you far more about archaeology finds that support the Bible.

#1. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, by Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler. ©2013, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.

This one covers just about everything discovered prior to 2013.

#2. Where God Came Down, the Archaeological Evidence, by Joel P. Kramer. ©2020, Published by Expedition Bible–an imprint of Sourceflix Inc., Utah.

Where God Came Down is very up to date and written in an easy to read style. The author, Joel Kramer, has an M.A. in archaeology from the University of the Holy Land. Plus, he has participated in many digs in Israel himself. This is an excellent source.

#3. The Evidence Study Bible, NKJV, Commentary by Ray Comfort. Bridge-Logos Publishers; Illustrated edition (March 1, 2011)

#4. Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, & Timelines, Rose Publishing ©2015

This is all just a drop in the bucket of all the artifacts and places that have been uncovered related to the Bible.

Every year, archaeologists find more Biblical evidence in Israel. It is astounding. At this point, skeptics can no longer say that the Bible is a fairy tale book. It is a historical account. Now what you do with that knowledge is up to you.

I personally felt drawn to read the Bible for myself to figure out what I believed, and I strongly recommend that to everyone. Get to know the God of the Bible, the parts that you do understand and the parts that are hard to grasp.

I hope this helps you want to dig deeper into what you think of your own personal relationship with God.

The post 10 Exciting Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Of all the ancient artifacts I have studied, the Sumerian Kings list brings the largest “wow” factor to me, outside of the claims of the Bible itself. Basically, it is a list of kings, kept by the Sumerian civilization sometime around 2100 BC. The list exists in many different fragments of clay tablets. The largest list is the Weld-Blundell prism, which you can find at Ashmolean Museum cuneiform collection in Oxford. Some of these fragments of the list do not exactly agree with each other. Yet overall, they are similar enough that they are considered different copies of the same document.

What is jaw-dropping about this historical document is that it lists kings in two groups. First are those who ruled before a great flood. Then there are those who ruled after it. Not only that, but the pre-flood kings had outrageously long reigns, just as people in the Bible did before the flood of Noah. After the flood, these life spans and reign lengths drastically decrease, just as they do in the Bible.

Quotes from the Sumerian Kings List:

“After the flood had swept over the earth and when kingship was lowered again from heaven…”

king list, according to source 1.

This mention and the fact that the lengths of life spans changes is an argument for the Bible’s account of a great flood.

“After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridug. In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years. Alaljar ruled for 36000 years. 2 kings; they ruled for 64800 years.“

king list, according to source 2

Whoa. That is definitely off the rails in lifespan account, as far as I know. The oldest life span reported in the Bible was Methuselah, who died at age 969. Side note, Methuselah was Noah’s grandfather.

Mixing Fact with Myth and Legend

The other distinguishing feature of the Sumerian King List is that some of it is in agreement with the Epic of Gilgamesh. This epic is an ancient story, discovered in Nineveh (which is in present-day Turkey). The poem is Mesopotamian in origin, written originally recorded around 2100 BC. It tells several stories of Gilgamesh, one being the story of the great flood. In the epic, the flood was created by the gods, just as the Bible teaches that the great flood was created by God. Gilgamesh is also listed in the Sumerian king list. To learn more about Gilgamesh, see this article on the Ancient History Encyclopedia website.

Gilgamesh may have been a real person, but most stories about him are probably not true. No one knows just how long these stories of him were handed down orally before they were recorded on clay tablets. Perhaps his story is mostly fiction mixed in with facts, like stories of George Washington and the cherry tree. Of course, the Gilgamesh story gets a lot wilder than not lying about a cherry tree. His stories involve gods and magic.

What about those crazy long life spans on the Sumerian King List???

I found one article on answersingenesis.org that goes into exhausting detail to show that the Sumerian civilization used 60 as their base number. (I found that information in many places, but the answersingenesis.org article went into extreme detail.)

Many scholars believe that when the king list was written, the writer of it had a copy of the Genesis record. That is because both include exactly eight rulers, pre-flood, excluding Adam and Noah, who were not kings. I found a long explanation as to how the lifespans on the king list actually agree quite well with the Genesis account, and for the life of me, I could not follow this long numerical explanation. I did find the charts helpful and interesting though. To view the charts and the article, just click here. For a chart that compares the cuneiform dates to the Bible names and years, click here.

Historical Documents

As archaeologists dig up more and more ancient documents and remains of cities and people, our understanding of past civilizations increases. Isn’t it amazing how much power the writers of the world have?

When you have multiple documents, written at a time when witnesses of the events were still alive, and the documents agree, then I do not believe evidence such as that can be ignored.

If you would like to learn more about the King list, I am including my sources below for your reading. I am also including links to articles I have written on similar topics. Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face fo the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Genesis 1:1-2

Similar Articles on this Website:

What the Nuzi Tablets Tell Us About the Bible

How do we know the Bible is reliable?

What is at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.?

Sources

1. The Sumerian king list: translation–http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr211.htm

2. The Sumerian King List still puzzles historians after more than a century of research, 30 Jan., 2014, ancient-origins.net., by April Holloway

3. Gilgamesh–https://www.ancient.eu/gilgamesh/, by Joshua J. Mark, 29 March, 2018.

4. The Antediluvian Patriarchs and the Sumerian King List, answersingenesis.org, by Raul Lopez, 1 Dec., 1998. Originally published in Journal of Creation 12, no 3 (December 1998): 347-357.

5. The incredible similarities between the Sumerian King List and accounts in Genesis, ancient-code.com,

6. Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, & Time Lines, Rose Publishing, 2005, 100 Proofs for the Bible Old Testament, page 48.

The post How the Sumerian King List Relates to the Bible appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Digging in to Biblical Archaeology…

One of my favorite things to read about is archaeological finds that have something to do with the Bible–anything to do with the Bible! These historical artifacts are not the reason that I believe, but they do substantiate and reinforce and inform my beliefs. They spur me on in my awe and wonder of this book we call The Holy Bible.

For me, the biggest reason for my faith is that God has been there for me. He always has. He has provided for my needs, and you can’t doubt someone who has answered your prayers time and time again. It makes anyone’s denial of a supernatural God laughable to me. I’ve seen God’s work too much to be faithless.

The Bible itself is the greatest testament to a living, breathing, loving God because the writings of the Bible are ancient, well-preserved, and there are 100s of these ancient texts, all in agreement with one another. It’s incredible in and of itself, and you can read more about that in this article that I wrote last year about why the Bible is reliable.

There are 100s of archaeological finds that are in agreement with the Bible, but today let’s focus on one: the Nuzi Tablets.

The Nuzi Tablets

These tablets were discovered in modern-day northern Iraq, or as you know it in ancient history, Mesopotamia. Nuzi was an administrative center. The tablets contain family archives from families in Nuzi in the years 1450-1350 BC. The information on the tablets spans 6 generations and describe social and economic customs as well as religious and legal institutions for people called the Hurrians. The Hurrians were also known as the Horites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Family records were clearly highly valued by these people, a rare thing for that time period, outside of the Hebrew people. There are tons of similiarities between the way these ancient people did things and the way that the patriarchs of Israel did them.

Why would the people of Israel have anything in common with the people in Nuzi?

Well, Abraham was from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and Nuzi was in Mesopotamia as well. This was not that far away from where Abraham grew up. Naturally, the customs of the people of Nuzi would be highly similar to the customs of Abraham’s family.

The Nuzis even had the word “Habiru,” referring to a group of landless people who wandered. Scholars suggest that this could be the origin of the word “Hebrew.”

Here’s the basic quick facts about the Nuzi Tablets. I made a little infograph:

The tablets offer a surprising explanation of the term “sister.”

A woman could be adopted by a man as his sister, giving her more rights than if she were only his wife. That sounds so WEIRD today. But it gets even weirder. A man could adopt his wife as his sister, and he’d be giving her that status so that she would have more rights.

Remember, this is over 3,000 years ago. Also, in Genesis, Abraham and Isaac both asked their wives to tell different kings that they were afraid of that they were their “sister.” To the kings in the area of Egypt, that meant what it means to us. But to people further into the East, where Abraham was born and raised, perhaps it meant something else entirely, as the tablets of Nuzi describe.

The tablets also describe the process of surrogate mothers, which is what Abraham’s wife Sarah did with her maid servant Hagar in Genesis 16.

Household idols are also discussed on these tablets, which explains the story of Rachel stealing her father’s household god and Laban being so upset about it. See, according to the tablets of Nuzi, if a father-in-law gave his son-in-law his household god, that meant that he was appointing him as his heir. Laban certainly did not intend to appoint Jacob as his heir, so Rachel was potentially doing more than grabbing a souvenir from her father’s house. She could have actually been trying to make herself and Jacob the principal heirs of her father’s estate, rather than her actual brothers, Laban’s own sons. Obviously, Laban was having no part of this.

The Nuzi tablets give us a whole other picture and context by which to understand the Old Testament. These stories took place over 3,000 years ago, and are therefore often very hard to comprehend.

I don’t know about you, but this is a topic I’d love to learn more about. If you’re interested, I’ve listed my sources below, so you can read up. This makes me want to go back to the Bible Museum to check for displays of the Nuzi tablets.

Sources:

Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, & Timelines  100 Proofs of the Bible Chart

Nuzi by Mark Chavalas on oxfordbibliographies.com

Great Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology: The Nuzi Tablets by Bryant G. Wood, PhD. Feb., 2006, on biblearchaeology.org

Clay Tablet and Envelope, image description, by Jennie Myers at teachingmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu

Nuzi at jewishvirtuallibrary.org

Nuzi at biblicaltraining.org

The Holy Bible, book of Genesis

***Ad disclaimer: When you purchase through my ads I sometimes collect advertising fees, when I’m lucky. All opinions are my own.**

If you enjoy reading about antiquities and the Middle East, you will love my book. It was released in March, 2020, Tour Israel in Pictures and Stories.  It’s now for sale on Amazon. Click here to check it out.

The post What The Nuzi Tablets from 1450-1350 BC Teach Us About the Bible appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Day 10 of Jumping into Fall & Recovering from Summer

Fear

Last night I woke up out of a dream to the sound of a man shouting, “April!” Only it wasn’t multiple shouts. It was just one shout, and it must have been in my dream, not in real life because Alan is the only grown man in our house, and he was sound asleep beside me.

It was 3am, I had to pee so bad I couldn’t stand it, but I didn’t dare walk down the dark hallway because of all the alarmed thoughts in my brain. These are the kind of thoughts you get when you think you hear a man shout your name in the middle of the night.

Maybe it’s completely irrational, but is anyone truly expected to think rationally at 3am, when woken from a deep sleep? What was the dream even about? I cannot remember, but it was a highly detailed dream, and at 3 am the dream and the shout were both fresh on my mind. The shout wasn’t related to the dream, I distinctly remember reasoning to myself, because that wasn’t what the dream was about.

So there I was, needing to pee so badly, but terrified to go down the hallway.

Gradually, I drifted back off to sleep, only to wake up an hour later with the same problem. Not the shout, just the need to pee. And yet, I was still a bit afraid.

4 am feels so much safer than 3am though, so I did the thing any mature adult would do, the thing you used to do when you were like 10.

I made a dash for it! No, just kidding, but this was just as silly. I eased out of bed, crept ever so quickly and quietly to the bathroom, silently shut the door, and locked it.

Normally, I’d just march in there and barely even close the door since everyone is asleep, but last night I still had some irrational thoughts going on.

“If he called my name to get me out of bed, and then get the jump on me to kidnap or murder me or whatever, then I must be quiet so he doesn’t know I’m out of bed. A locked door will make a racket. Alan will hear him trying to open the door.”

When I finished in the bathroom, I slowly opened the door, and peeked down the hallway. Then I flipped the light off and ran back to my bed and jumped in as quickly as possible. Can’t you just see it?

It’s all sort of crazy, right, but that’s how distinctly I heard the “April!!!” that woke me from my dreaming.

But I suppose it must have actually been only the dream itself.

There’s more fear and dread going on in my brain this week than is normally there. I think that sort of sets me up for craziness like this.

Tomorrow is my cardiac MRI, and the truth is I don’t want to do it. I tried to not even do it at all. Repeatedly, I told them, “I had one only 2 years ago. It was normal.”

But they didn’t care. They said it was time for another, and the last one wasn’t even done with the dye that they put in your veins. Here’s where I wrote about that.

“Oh well, I better wait until school starts to do it.”

Why do I dread it so much?

Ah, it’s a medical procedure. MRIs don’t bother me at all, but IVs most certainly do, and that’s what I don’t want to do. I’m a medical chicken, okay? I’d rather not be poked, prodded, bled, exposed, etc. etc.

Plus, it’s the bigger problem that I try to pretend doesn’t exist, the whole v-tach thing. The whole heart problem that makes no one ever quite sure what to do with me. You see, v-tach is a big deal. Mine isn’t too bad. It could be much worse, but it’s just bad enough that I have to be closely monitored, maybe for the rest of my life.

V-tach serves as a reminder of my own mortality, of the frailty of life. We are all dying. Okay I know, I’m a regular barrel of monkeys over here. But it’s there, and it can’t always be ignored.

What power do I have over death, though?

There was a question in this Bible study I’m reading. This question makes me doubt that the author of the book has never faced a life threatening health condition. She asked what you would be sad about if you were told that you would die tomorrow. The author postulated that we would think, “I want to see my children grow up or see my grandchildren or travel.”

I shook my head because that’s not it at all. That’s not actually what I thought about. Not even close.

You don’t worry about what you will personally miss out on. It’s your people who you worry about. These children, this family, they are not at all ready to go on without their mother. They literally need me. I strongly feel that they do. Yes, they have their dad, but we fulfill very different roles in their lives. I’m the softer one more accessible one, and they need me.

I thought about my mom, my mother who has spent her entire life taking care of everybody else and does not deserve to have to outlive her children. She still needs me. I can’t leave her.

Worst of all, I even came across articles like this that make it all too real. Y’all! She was my age, she had 4 boys, and she had one of the heart conditions I’m being tested for.

Yes! I was thinking about this stuff.

Maybe it seems ridiculous, but with the v-tach and the things I’m being tested for it was a natural place for my brain to go. It could not be helped.

There’s Alan, and I think he would be devastated, but I also think he would be okay. He’s a mature, adult man with all these children depending on him.

Suddenly, I was giving Alan instructions on what to do if I pass out. Call 911. Do CPR. Put me on an ambulance. If the v-tach ever gets out of control, and doesn’t stop itself, it turns into v-fibrillation, and that’s cardiac arrest.

But we’ve talked about it now. Alan knows what to do in case of emergency, and now it’s time to stop dwelling on it. I fully believe that this MRI will come back “normal.” And then, so long as my v-tach runs stay under 16 beats, I don’t have to have surgery. Of course, they are already at 13 beats, but they happen so seldomly, I guess that’s why it’s okay.

For a couple of years, I wasn’t having v-tach runs, but they’ve made a comeback for 2018.

There are so many battles in life that we have only to trust in the Lord because we simply can’t fix them. I have no more power over my heart than I do over the weather.

I’ll keep on praying, keep on hoping, keep on trusting God. God’s got this.

If you’ve been following the news, there’s been some talk lately about high school yearbooks. Ha! Well, I think my senior quote in my high school year book suits this situation perfectly:

I need to order this wall sign.

I don’t have the grace in myself to go through all this uncertainty, but I do have God’s grace. He sees me through this, and I do believe that everything will be okay. Even if the MRI did show problems, we will treat those issues and get on with life.

We are strong, courageous, fearless, and undaunted. For the Lord Our God IS with Us wherever we go.

I not-so-secretly enjoy playing with Snapchat. Alan says the ears look silly. I say, “Look! I’ve always wondered what I’d look like with brown eyes!”

Don’t worry. I haven’t fallen off the dramatic cliff here. This was where I was at this week, but there are plenty of other, happier things going on.

The post V Tach, the MRI, and the Dread appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

***This website contains Amazon affiliate links. When you purchase through these links, I do collect an advertising fee.***

This summer I’m not getting overly ambitious with the reading. I am only reading two books:

1.) I’m reading Story of the World Volume I with our kids. (I’m learning as much as they are!!) Yes, we read some of this three years ago, but we never finished, and none of us remember ANYTHING we read back then!!

2.) I’m ever so slowly reading through Tried by Fire by William J. Bennett.

I would be reading it faster, but I’ve also gotten this Jeopardy app addiction I’m dealing with..

I’ve learned so much about the early church through Bennett’s book, and unless you’re an expert theologian, you probably haven’t heard many of these stories either.

Here are 10 that I found interesting enough to underline. Oh, how I love to underline things!!

10 Facts About the Early Church You Never Knew

(Mostly from source 1:  Tried by Fire, by William J. Bennett  **I do collect advertising fees when you click on the Amazon link to that book.)**

#1.  We think of persecution being an early church thing, but did you know that global persecution of Christians is actually higher now than at any other time past?

Don’t believe me? For more on that, see these articles:

https://www.christianpost.com/news/pope-francis-deeply-concerned-about-christian-persecution-says-stronger-than-1st-century-church-121562/

According to this CNN article, 7100 Christians died in 2015 for their faith.

#2. James, the brother of Jesus, was thrown from the top of Solomon’s temple and then clubbed on the head, and died, in AD 62.

(source 1, page 13) These events were recorded by the historian Eusebius. In fact, you probably already know that all of the disciples were martyred, except John, who was exiled and penned the book of Revelation.

#3. In the first century, there was not yet any central church authority in Rome. Instead, each congregation was usually led by a council of elders.

(source 1, page 20) It took many years for the church to become more organized, and eventually being led by elders became uncommon. But remember, in the first century, many followers were actually eye witnesses of events surrounding Jesus and his disciples!

#4. The Didache , a document from the first century, gave these guidelines for Christians:

-Assemble on Sundays

-Say the Lord’s Prayer 3 times per day.

-Support ministers out of generosity

-Eucharist (Lord’s supper) forbidden for unbelievers or the unbaptized

#5. Early baptisms were done completely naked, but men were separated from the women.

Say…what??? (source 1, page 44) …Heh?

In fact, many ancient artworks illustrate this point. Hopefullybiblical.com also asserts that even Jesus was baptized nude.

#6. Under Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Christians were “barred from public buildings. Their homes were vandalized, and they were subject to mocking, beatings, draggings, robberies, stoning, imprisonment…”

(1, page 45) Let’s just say you had to REALLY believe it to own up to the charge of being a Christian!

#7. The Christian view of women was a welcome relief from the Roman treatment of women.

(1, page 56) Adultery was commonly accepted for men in Roman society, but the New Testament taught marital faithfulness.

Women were also offered positions of leadership in the church which was unheard of in Roman culture.

Plus, the scriptures teach caring for widows and opposes prostitution. Women aren’t property. We are people.

#8. The Council of Nicaea in AD 325 decided that Easter should be celebrated on the Sunday following the Passover.

This was also when theological traditions between East and West began to split, but they were still unified on “cardinal issues of faith.” (1-page 61) Eastern churches were honoring Easter on the Passover at sundown instead of on the Sunday following, and many of them continued to do so.

#9. Early Christians EXPECTED to be persecuted and they counted it an honor. The struggle was actually in what to do with the Christians who denied Christ when persecuted and then wanted to be let back into the church.

“The issue was whether purity or forgiving love should be the characteristic note of the church.” (The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, Gonzalez, 90)

This was a fair and tough question. What do we do with people who say they are one of us but deny it when there are consequences? Is that genuine faith?

#10. Paul the Hermit became the first monk.

And no, I do not mean the Paul of the New Testament. This Paul lived 200 years later.

By the 300s, once persecution slowed down, the church attracted the zealous and the lukewarm believers alike. They no longer had to fear death for their faith, so anyone could be a Christian.

Some devout Christians couldn’t stand being with these lukewarm followers, so they took off to the wilderness to live in solitude and Bible study, becoming monks.

Paul the Hermit was the first recorded monk. He retreated to a cave in Egypt while the persecution was still going on, and hid there, around 250, according to the ancient historian Saint Jerome. He said that Paul the Hermit lived to be 113 years old and never left the cave.

The message and story of Christianity stays the same, but the way we interact with one another and the world seems to keep changing. If only we could always focus on the core tenets that unite us, rather than arguing over issues that divide us to the point of forgetting what it’s all about.

From the beginning it was all about redemption, love, mercy, hope. As a church, we so often get off track. We leave love behind to argue about predestination and how to baptize. Really, people???

There’s this song that puts it this way. The song is called Savin’ the World, by Clay Crosse:

“It all comes down to a man dying on a cross
Saving the world Rising from the dead
Doing what He said He would do
Loving everyone He saw
When it’s said and done it all
Comes down to a man dying on a cross
Saving the world….”

Want to know more about this history of Christianity? Here’s a link to the book, Tried By Fire:

SaveSave

SaveSave

The post 10 Facts You Never Knew About the Early Church appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C.

New Museum

This past year a new museum opened up in downtown Washington, D.C., in between all the federal buildings, metro stops, and Starbucks. In fact, this museum shares brick with the Federal Center Southwest Metro stop, making it an extremely convenient destination!

The Museum of the Bible is only a few blocks away from the United States Capitol building!

Alan and I discussed visiting it, but we weren’t overly motivated. After all, was it literally a museum full of Bibles? I mean, we love God’s word and all, but how do you make a museum out of books? That sounds more like a library.

Well, last week, I finally realized that I was about to lose ALL of my freedom. Alan was headed back to work, and all four children are out of school for the summer for two MORE months.

I suddenly knew I HAD to get out right away!

At the first opportunity, I made my escape, not even sure where I was going. I only knew I was headed to downtown Washington, D.C. Somewhere between my house and the metro station, I decided upon the Bible museum, rather than visiting any of the Smithsonians, which I’ve seen a dozen times.

Metro Stop

Federal Center Southwest. It’s on the blue, orange, and silver lines, and it literally puts you out on the opposite end of the same building that houses the Bible Museum. At the top of the escalator, round either corner. Don’t cross any streets. Walk to the end of the building. You are there.

Pssst… you can download this app to help you navigate the D.C. Metro system. It’s also available for Apple devices.

Ticket Prices

Adult: $15

Kids 12 & Under: $10

No, I did not buy tickets in advance. I went inside and purchased at the counter, and I only had to wait behind 2 people.

How big is this place?

Much bigger than I thought. And thankfully, it was much more than just a giant museum of Bibles. Ha! I’m going to tell you what my favorite parts were, so if you only have a couple of hours you can cut right to the chase.

I have to admit that most of my favorite parts were the ones I couldn’t photograph. Sorry!! I did see one man cheating with his phone at his hip to take the forbidden photos, sort of like a certain one of Alan’s aunts always does….but y’all know I’m actually not much of a rebel..

But I will do my best to TELL you about those not-to-miss exhibits, even if I didn’t get a photo.

Let’s start with the first exhibit you come to after getting ticketed..the room of paintings and displays that are:

On loan from the Vatican

(!!! Wow. Sounds so official, right? These have to be good.)

circa 1209

So much of this room was lost on me because I did not find this display key until after I had walked around and looked at the paintings, not knowing what they meant.

Lesson learned: In the Vatican room, find the key to the RIGHT of the doors (I tend to always go left) before you peruse the gallery.

key that explains what each of the paintings are about

While I was in the Vatican room, I kept hearing loud bumps and such, and I thought, “What is there, a daycare above my head??”

No. Turns out it was this:

I actually don’t know what all goes on in here, but it sounded like fun. I was child free that day, so I passed on this.

Obviously, when I do take my children to the Museum of the Bible I will be spending plenty of time in the children’s experience wing, which I can tell you with strong certainty is adjacent to the Vatican gallery. Ha!!

The next exhibits I went through were about how Bible affects our culture, how the Bible has affected America (greatly), and the history of printing Bibles.

Those were three different large galleries.

This is a huge interactive computer display where you can take polls and see the results.

Freedom is a major theme throughout the Bible as well as American history. People on both sides of these issues have often sought to use the Bible to back up their views, but the people in this Freedom display used the Bible in the name of freedom.

The Bible & How it Affects Us

George Washington Carver is a big deal where I grew up (in the deep south where growing peanuts became profitable in place of cotton). He was a godly man dedicated to science and the Bible.

This section had hundreds of personal testimonies of how the Bible affected their lives as well as stories of important historical figures and their faith.

History of the Bible

I thought it was cool to see this replica of the Gutenberg press:

painting of the shepherds visiting baby Jesus

Naturally, I enjoyed this exhibit of Christianity in fashion. I love clothes.

In the elevator, there is this beautiful moving photo. I mean it actually moves.

What do you call that? Like a mini-video..a gif?

How I miss Israel. Someday let’s go back!

The Cafe!!!

The Mediterranean Clam Chowder!!!! LOVE!!! This is what I ordered. Photo from the Museum of the Bible.

Okay, I don’t know what this says about me, but the museum cafe was one of my FAVORITE parts of the museum. You can find it on the top floor. They had a variety of Mediterranean food, some things I had not seen since my trip to Israel, as well as regular American options. I found the food to be affordable and delicious.

On that same floor (the 6th), I took a stroll around and came upon this beautiful room, which I didn’t even realize the museum had:

This loooong window provides views of the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the National Monument.

That dome-like thing on the right is the Library of Congress. The one on the left is the Capitol.

Those domes are Smithsonian museums on the National Mall.

the Washington Monument

I thoroughly enjoyed soaking this in and taking pictures for my fellow tourists.

Right next to the long window on the 6th floor I found this exhibit of antiquities from Israel.

The long-term exhibit is called History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel, and it was my 2nd favorite part of the museum.

This is a real, Egyptian-style mummy found in Canaan, estimated from around 1100 BC.

I took photos of a few other ancient artifacts, to include altars, coins, and ancient writings, both Biblical and non Biblical.

The one in the center with the 4 corners is an Israeli altar. I can’t recall what the others are.

Egyptian account of the same stories found in the Bible. I love this sort of archaeological find!!

Oops!! So interesting, but I didn’t get a photo of the actual amulets. The description was exciting to me, so I focused more on it.

You can read more about the silver scrolls, which are even older than the Dead Sea scrolls, at this article I wrote here.

Next I went through the Hebrew Bible Experience.

No photos were allowed in this video/exhibit tour. It was a retelling of the high points of the Old Testament. This tour takes 30 minutes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Old Testament tour.

The Jesus of Nazareth exhibit, New Testament Theatre, and the Washington Revelations attraction are all on the 3rd floor, and I was running out of time. The museum was about to close!!

Washington Revelations

So I paid the $5 fee to see the Washington Revelations. I figured if it cost extra, it must be good, right???

It was SO fun. This is not for babies and toddlers, though, sad to say. It is more like a simulator/ride like you’d find at Disney or Universal. In fact, it reminded me of the Soarin’ ride at Epcot.

You stand and hold on to this fly board in front of you, but you never leave your spot. It’s just that the floor tilts around with what’s showing on the screen so that you feel like you are flying through Washington, D.C., looking at the many scripture references throughout the monuments and buildings in the city.

It was exhilarating. Two thumbs up here, but I don’t think John David (my youngest) will be big enough for it yet.

What I Missed!!

I was rather dismayed in researching for this post to realize that I missed some of the best stuff. Here’s what I wish I’d made it to:

•  New Testament Theatere, lasts 8 minutes, on the 3rd floor
• Stations of the Cross, by artist Gib Singleton, the crucifixion story illustrated in miniature statues

I think the Stations of the Cross is temporary too.

Make sure you don’t miss these!!

1. Washington Revelations– It was my favorite just because it was fun. (floor 3)
2.  Actually ALL of the 3rd floor. Just go there first.
3. 6th floor: That’s where I found the enormous viewing room, the restaurant, and the antiquities exhibit!

So basically hit the 3rd and 6th floors first, in my humble opinion. I think the basement actually had the Stations of the Cross, which I missed.

To learn more, see the webpage for the Museum of the Bible.

I did leave time to browse the gift shop by the exit, of course. I bought a cute little blue and white dish that was exactly like the ones we saw when we were souvenir shopping in Israel last summer.

Then I took a sweltering walk over to the Capitol building since it was so close.

…and I let a nice tourist take my photo for me.

I hope you get to visit the Museum of the Bible soon too!

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

The post Why You Should Absolutely Go See the Bible Museum appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.