Exciting New Evidence of Biblical Earthquake Found in Jerusalem

Recently an archaeological team from The Israel Antiquities Authority, lead by Dr. Joe Uziel and Ortal Chalaf, discovered evidence in Jerusalem of an 8^th century BCE earthquake that devastated Israel. The existence of large ancient earthquakes in the region is not a new fact to researchers. Archaeologists have found evidence of earthquake devastation in sites all over Juda. What makes this find particularly interesting is its connection to an earthquake mentioned by the Biblical prophets.

The Biblical Earthquake Account

If you opened up a Bible to Amos 1:2 and Zechariah 14:5, you would find that they both mention an earthquake happening during the life of Uzziah, king of Juda. King Uzziah lived during the middle of the 8^th century BCE and was a contemporary of the prophet Amos.  

You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.” (Zechariah 14:5)

“The vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah.” (Amos 1:2)

Now, it should be noted that Amos and Zechariah did not know each other. In fact, Zechariah lived around 200 years after Amos. Another important detail can be found in how both authors use the seismic event as a marker in history. People often use catastrophic or significant events like bookmarks in time. A few examples of markers we use today would be Covid, 911, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of South Africa’s apartheid, WW2, and the Birth of Jesus. These events give us a vivid way to talk about different parts of history quickly and efficiently. This appears to be what the Prophetic writers are doing when they mention the earthquake of Uzziah’s day. It also implies that the earthquake was catastrophic; since people were still referencing it 200 years after the fact.

Jerusalem and Other Sites Connected to the Biblical Earthquake

As mentioned above, the team from the Israel Antiquities Authority have concluded that their Jerusalem find is connected to Uzziah’s earthquake. Aside from the Biblical account, the team’s discover also correlates with other sites all over the holy land. Several excavation sites such as Hazor, Gezer, Tell Agol, Megiddo, Acre, and Gath have earthquake damage dating back to the 8^th century BCE. Moreover, researchers studying sediment layers from the dead sea have also found evidence of two large earthquakes from that era (861-705 BCE and 824-667 BCE). This has led many scholars to conclude that there were, in fact, two significant seismic events during that time.

Dr. Joe Uziel is currently arguing that Uzziah’s earthquake should be used as an official historical bookmark, due to the magnitude of the event. He told The Times of Israel, “It’s not that per se we’re providing here a way to date, but rather an anchor that we can compare what comes before and what comes after.”

Thanks for being Awesome!