The Bible in the British Museum: Investigating the Evidence [Paperback]

T.C. Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1988

The links between archaeology and the Bible have fascinated generations of archaeologists and biblical scholars who seek documentation of events narrated in the Bible. The British Museum's collections include numerous inscribed objects, scripts and pictorial reliefs which provide such evidence. There is, for example, a Babylonian clay tablet which records Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, as narrated in the book of Jeremiah. For this book the author has selected over seventy such 'documents', mainly from Western Asia, with some examples included from Greece, Egypt and Asia Minor, dating from the period of the Patriarchs to the New Testament times, c. 2000 BC to c. AD 100. He transliterates and translates the ancient texts, which include Cuneiform, Aramaic and Hebrew, and discusses the contribution they make to our knowledge of the culture and history of biblical times. Each object is illustrated in black and white.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An illustrated and detailed guide to documents in the British Museum which are important for any student of the Bible. -- Theological Book Review

This is a good book to stimulate anyone whose interest in the world of the Bible has just begun. -- Christian Arena --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

T.C. Mitchell is former Keeper of Western Asiatic Antiquities at the British Museum. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: British Museum Press (July 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 071411698X
• ISBN-13: 978-0714116983
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,057,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Expert Reviews the Evidence, July 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bible in the British Museum: Investigating the Evidence (Paperback)

T. C. Mitchell is an expert on the Ancient Near East. He looks at the material evidence for the Biblical accounts in British Museum. This book is a great book to take along when you visit the museum if your area of interest is Biblical Archaeology. If you forget your copy pick up one in the museum bookstore and give yours away. Whoever you give this book to will be greatful.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's Nothing Like It, July 11, 2005

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bible In The British Museum: Interpreting The Evidence (Paperback)

There's nothing like the British Museum. It contains more significant pieces of archaeology on display than any other museum in the world. T C Mitchell's book showcases some sixty of them that relate to the Bible. Moreover unless one has thought about it, one will be amazed by the biblical artifacts that can be found in the British Museum.

Among items included in Mitchell's book are the Atrahasis Epic, the Merneptah Stela, the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, the Moabite Stone, a Lachish Ostracon, the Cyrus Cylinder, a DSS scroll jar, a portion of an unknown gospel known as Egerton 2, and Codex Sinaiticus. Mitchell begins his book with short essays on biblical archaeology, ancient texts, and chronologies and maps of biblical times. His descriptions of the items he discusses in his book are clear, concise, and accurate.

It just makes me want to go back to the British Museum.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Bible and archaeology, September 28, 2004

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bible In The British Museum: Interpreting The Evidence (Paperback)

THE BIBLE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM - Interpreting the Evidence by T. C. Mitchell. Paulist Press, 997 Macarthur Blvd., Mahwah, NJ 07430; www.paulistpress.com; [e-mail]. 2004, this edition. 136 pp. $22.95 trade paper, ISBN 0-8091-4292-9. maps, photographs, illustrations, bibliography, indexes.

This author who is a former Keeper of Western Asiatic Antiquities at the British Museum does not try to solve any esoterica or controversies in the Bible in discussing a wide variety of antiquities mostly from the Near East with some from adjacent Mediterranean lands. Rather, Mitchell uses the diverse, interesting antiquities as direct or related references to the historical periods covered in the long time span of the Bible and the cultures of the different lands and civilizations which are parts of its tales. The photographs of the numerous antiquities are photographed as if part of a museum exhibition on the subject. A group of 7th-century B.C. pottery vessels found in a tomb near Bethlehem exemplify the "metaphor of the potter [Jeremiah] used to clarify his prophetic message." Hieroglyphics, statues, passages from ancient texts, and impressions on coins are similarly used to illustrate parts of the Bible. From Mitchell's approach, limited though it is to materials from the British Museum, one learns a good deal about both the Bible and related ancient cultures.