Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life

I gave it 5 stars because it deserves the flowers. I do wish the paper was a little better quality. I think it would help make the pictures pop more. Regardless, this book is worth every penny. I haven't found anything else like it. The book is clear, concise, and isn't bogged down with too many details - just the facts m'am. It's a perfect starting reference to send someone down 101 different rabbit holes. I hope someday he puts out a hardback version on thick, slick paper with beautiful, glossy photographs. That would be lovely. For now, this will more than suffice. You get just enough about each artifact to get you going. From there, you can decide how to use your favorite search engine.

Great book! Fascinating finds, and I’ve spoken with the author during a guest Q&A, very nice guy. This is a great Christian apologetics resource.

I just received this book and I am so excited. It is a great tool and reference for Biblical studies. Each artifact has a great photograph next to the quick eye catching dates, discovery, period, keywords and Biblical passage. Then a brief but to the point description. It is simple and effective. Very easy to refer when reading your Bible or if you are just interested in archeology. Each artifact is about 2 pages and nothing more which is perfect for references. What a great book!

It's short and to the point, but it's an excellent summary of ancient finds. I would have liked the pages to be bigger and the pictures glossier, but it is what it is, and that would have made it expensive. As it is, it's handy and useful.

This book shows an excellent archaeological evidence of the Bible accuracy of places, names, events, etc. and proving for the Christians that the Bible is a historical document as well as the inspired inerrant word of God. The majority of the book is interesting and delectable, I mean, the pages where the author presents archaeological facts such as the artifacts and their correlation with people, places times, events and practices recorded in the Bible. But I do not like when the author make personal assumptions and do not present any proof of that. He says: it probably be…. it may be… Here I show three cases of this conjectures;: 1.The author seems to affirm that the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, or at least, the name of this event, was derived from the Roman triumph celebration. He says (page 231), regarding to the Roman Empire and the life of Jesus: “By the time of Jesus, the requirements and meaning of a triumphal entry had shifted slightly from its earlier roots associating it with a conquering hero, as it became even more significant and representative of kingship and divinity”. He continues to say: “In ancient Roman culture, a triumphant victor, known as vir triumphalis (“man of triumph”) would enter the city in a celebration parade wearing the laurel wreath and a purple garment, which identified him with the royal and the divine, while riding in a chariot pulled by four horses, alluding to Sol the sun god”. But if we compare the Roman triumph celebration with the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem described in the Bible, it is not derived from the Roman culture but is the exact fulfillment of the prophesy of Zechariah 9:9. I do not see any correlation between the two celebration; Jesus did not ride a horse but a donkey to signify peace, meekness and humility. It was not a pompous entrance of a conquering hero or king wearing a expensive garment and royal crown. 2.Even though, it is not possible to identify the location of the tomb of Jesus with absolute certainty; the author states (page 199) that the tomb of Jesus is located at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre possible based on “the restoration work to the edicule and an arcosolium tomb from the Roman period found in the church of the Holy Sepulchre”. The author also affirms without giving any proof that: “Christians in Jerusalem then passed down a continuous memory of the location of the tomb (of Jesus) from the time of the burial and resurrection in AD33 until construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was started in about AD326”. But where are the records of that time? The author probably based his statement on Eusebius who lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. According to the history , the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built by the Roman Emperor Constantine around 326 AD, when her mother the Queen Helena, wanted to replace the pagan temples with Christian churches; she met the Bishop Macarious of Jerusalem who determined the location where Jesus had been buried at the place where was a temple to the Greek goddess Venus. At the beginning of the construction of the church, a rock-cut tomb was found there and an edicule was built to protect the site. But later the edicule was destroyed and rebuild. More tombs has been found under this church. How to be sure or verify that this rock-cut tomb was the one where Jesus was buried? 3.The author is biased with respect to the Masoretic Text, he make a statement but does not support it with any evidence in this regard. Writing about the Dead Sea Scrolls (Page 173) he states: “And certain passages in the Masoretic text seem to have been intentionally modified to match ideas and theology of medieval Judaism.” it is a bad accusation.

Easily one of the most engaging books I've ever read on the topic of biblical archaeology. Every artifact has a handful of pages dedicated to it, including a photo and a user-friendly breakdown. Dr. Kennedy spends a lot of time out in the field and knows archaeology better than those who spend all their time behind a desk. I particularly recommend this book to anyone who is just starting to learn about archaeology. It's a great primer that will help catch you up to speed.

This is one of the coolest books I have ever read. As a person who loves history, this book really struck home and showed me a new way of reading the bible. It follows the bible in chronological order showing artifacts and other archeological finds that show how people, events, customs, and items from the bible were real and happening at their times. Really clear and colorful photos of these items makes them even more real. Each artifact is only a couple of pages, and have concise summaries of what they are, and why they are important. They don't get boring and drone on and on, so you learn about one and are quickly on to the next. What I most enjoyed about the book is reading about an artifact, then referencing it in the bible and reading the particular chapter it came from to get a context. It's amazing how a seemingly meaningless character mentioned once in the bible is brought straight to life from a small clay tablet with his named mentioned on it. Most importantly, it reinforced that the I should be reading the bible as the greatest history book ever written, not just a story book with some rules to follow. This book shows that the bible recorded the events that happened in history and truly makes them shine. Amazing work, Dr. Kennedy!

Beautiful book. Good information