God kept two records of his history and his revelation to mankind. One is the Bible and the other was written by the ancient ruins of civilizations.
Biblical archaeology fascinates me. I love it when relics are found that point directly to a person, place or thing in the Bible. Not that I need this verification to stabilize my faith, but it's exciting to see physical proof of the Great Flood or view the remnants of Solomon's stables.
Over the years, there have been a number of men and women archaeologists who have tediously uncovered such buried treasure. They have picked up the threads of ancient life from a thousand city mounds and woven them into a pattern which parallels the lives and times of Biblical characters.
A major key in unlocking long-ago languages was found in the Rosetta Stone. Discovered in Egypt by one of Napoleon Bonaparte's men, it is a granite stele bearing three languages; one Greek, the other two, a mystery.
A brilliant Frenchman, Jean Champollion, dedicated his life to deciphering the Rosetta mystery. His older brother, also an unsung hero, supported him for 23 years while he labored over the stone's contents. Twenty-three years! He must've been cross-eyed when he triumphantly presented his translation, but what an irreplacable tool it was for gaining knowledge of the ancient civilizations.
No comments:
Post a Comment