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Camel bones suggest error in Bible, archaeologists say

Published February 06, 2014/
FoxNews.com

Archaeologists say they've pinpointed the domestication of camels in the Middle East -- and the science directly contradicts dates in the Bible. (FoxNews.com / Jeremy A. Kaplan)

Archaeologists from Israel�s top university have used radiocarbon dating to pinpoint the arrival of domestic camels in the Middle East -- and they say the science directly contradicts the Bible�s version of events.

Camels are mentioned as pack animals in the biblical stories of Abraham, Joseph and Jacob, Old Testament stories that historians peg to between 2000 and 1500 BC. But Erez Ben-Yosef and Lidar Sapir-Hen of Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures say camels weren�t domesticated in Israel until centuries later, more like 900 BC.


'This anachronism is direct proof that the [Bible's] text was compiled well after the events it describes.'

- American Friends of Tel Aviv University

�In addition to challenging the Bible's historicity, this anachronism is direct proof that the text was compiled well after the events it describes,� reads a press release announcing the research.

To find the first camel, Sapir-Hen and Ben-Yosef used radiocarbon dating to analyze the oldest known camel bones in the Arabian Peninsula, found at the remains of a copper smelting camp in the Aravah Valley, which runs along the border with Jordan from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.

The bones were in archaeological layers dating from the last third of the 10th century BC or later � centuries after the patriarchs lived and decades after the Kingdom of David, according to the Bible, the researchers said. The few camel bones found in earlier archaeological layers probably belonged to wild camels, which archaeologists think lived there during the Neolithic period or even earlier.

Notably, all the sites active in the 9th century in the Arava Valley had camel bones, but none of the sites that were active earlier contained them.

"The introduction of the camel to our region was a very important economic and social development," Ben-Yosef said. "By analyzing archaeological evidence from the copper production sites of the Aravah Valley, we were able to estimate the date of this event in terms of decades rather than centuries."

The arrival of domesticated camels promoted trade between Israel and exotic locations unreachable before, according to the researchers. Camels can travel over much longer distances than donkeys and mules, opening up trade routes like the Incense Road that stretched from Africa through Israel to India.

I suppose the significance of this hangs upon how central the events related for those times in the Bible hung upon the presence or absence of camels.

Otherwise we're talking a 1,000 plus year span here between the events and the actual appearance of camels, and then another 900 years before Jesus.



What, they expect the ORIGINAL compilation to physically endure whole eras?

How many times would texts/scrolls whatever be rewritten in all that time and how long would any written account last before it crumbled and had to be replaced? Could be a transcription error at some point.

Doesn't seem an unheard-of thing either that domestic camels prior to 900BC were simply fewer in number or otherwise simply missed.

Birdwatcher

Nothing like discarding data that does not conform to the premise that triggered the funding for your research to give us confidence.

I wonder what percentage of bones remain findable and testable after a few thousand years. Heck, I have trouble finding the meds I bought at Rite Aid yesterday.

Then you can delve into the many competing versions, translations, etc of the Book to further mystify yourself over how anyone can waste their time trying to divine what the resulting jibberish really means.

It does of course mean that almost anyone with a slick tongue can buy a tent and pulpit and shakedown the multitudes for nickles even to the university level.

Where are you Mark Twain now that we really need you?

1B

George Carlin was our Mark Twain, tho not as eloquent. Letters From Earth hit it on the head.

Jesus was wise enough not to depend on the written word to spread His message.

Of course, there are those among us who think otherwise, and they'll argue about camel bones............. I'll pass.

Broncos still lost.

Three things the study of bones tells us, is that we haven't found them all, when we make another find, it often refutes earlier evidence and finally, to make a profound statement based solely on the existing evidence is a foolish thing to do. So state that it's unlikely domestic camels existed prior to a certain date, simply based on a single find is foolish. It would be like trying to find the exact date of the domestic dog based only on the earliest find and suggesting that's the rule.

When one seeks proof, one seeks only validation. When one seeks evidence, they seek understanding. Evidence is waiting to be found. Unfortunately, a significant amount of evidence will never be found and our understanding will be incomplete and based on one of two things: #1, incomplete data, or #2, faith.

The article says the oldest KNOWN camel bones. So the oldest known bones are also the oldest bones in existence? These were found at a copper mine. All of the patriarchs named in the Bible were nomads. They didn't leave permanent settlements to be excavated so finding a pile of bones is almost impossible.

Half the climatologists swear we're experiencing man made global warming, as well.

Scientists are just pimps chasing research dollars. Throw enough money at it and they'll claim proof that our ancestors were aliens riding 707's.

On QANTAS stewardess Elaine's lovely lips, the Aussie accent was beautiful and irresistible when she asked for a lift farther into the park.

As we rode, she asked me what little creature left droppings oh, so big at the mouth of its burrow. I couldn't think of any � was completely mystified.

Back at that camp ground a day or so later, I noticed what she must've been referring-to � just a couple of feet in front of where she'd pitched her tent, a parka squirrel's burrow with a pile of moose marbles at the entrance.

Whatcha reckon scientists would make of that juxtaposition, centuries hence?

I still think all the family [bleep] in the Noah family clan as a fun story for the kids.

So these guys are dating the Bible based on Camel Toes.?

Not sure how scientific that approach is gonna be...

The idea that the Bible is anachronistic because it mentions that Abraham had camels is an old one, at least 100 years. It has pretty much been debunked if you choose believe any of the many of pieces of evidence that have been uncovered that suggest that camels were known in those days.

Here is a useful link:

Yes, there were camels


Think of it this way. Someone might in the future claim that domesticated horses were unknown in North America until the 18th century or so because all the bones found before that were of wild horses in the western plains.

You, you, you mean Bob bet on the Broncos. Didn't he hear that the monkey chose the Hawks????

I don't know for sure.

I'm just stirring the pot in the opposite direction to Bob.

It hasn't vortexed into a whirpool yet.

Give it time.

I get far more excited about what is found than what isn't. What isn't still can be.


I can't find my keys, but I assure you they were here.

Can't speak to your quoted study; haven't had time to look at. But, briefly, we've just had fifty years (with its roots in The Enlightenment) of the information elite intensely marginalizing and deriding Christianity, and painting it's adherents as ignorant putzes. Since you are maybe in your late 40's to 50's, this mental climate has no doubt informed your world view as well as many others; I.e., the researchers.

Previous well-documented archeological research findings have not only not refuted any Biblical stories, persons, places, or events, but have corroborated them. Just one example is found in the Gulf of Aqaba (AKA the Red Sea) where robotic submarines have shown the sea bottom strewn with Egyptian chariots. See Exodus.

very true.....

Many years ago, an old preacher countered the then-popular notion that the "parting" of the Red Sea had allowed wading across in water only knee-deep or hip-deep �

"Glory be to God! All Phay-ray-oh's army drowned in two foot of water!"