The Tablet of Nabu: Another Confirmation of the Bible

From Patrick Zukeran and Probe Ministries.

“Skeptics may be getting the point: arguing from an absence of archaeological evidence for facts in Scripture is a shaky position indeed. Biblical claims just keep getting confirmed. A researcher at the British Museum recently found another one: a receipt for payment to a Babylonian temple that adds credence to the Book of Jeremiah.

Said one expert who was working with the artifact, “A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power.”

This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find. —Dr. Irving Finkel, British Museum

The Discovery

“A significant discovery related to Biblical history was made in the British Museum’s great Arched Room which holds nearly 130,000 Assyrian cuneiform tablets.{1} Among the tablets, some of which date back nearly 5000 years, one tablet in particular, measuring only 2.13 inches wide or about the size of a small cigarette pack, was recently translated by Assyriologist and Professor from the University of Vienna, Dr. Michael Jursa. This cuneiform tablet was dated to 595 BC, or the 10^th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

When deciphered it named a high ranking official of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar named Nebo-Sarsekim. Nebo-Sarsekim is also named in the Book of Jeremiah 39:1-3. The passage reads:

This is how Jerusalem was taken: In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. ² And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. ³ Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon.

Jeremiah identifies Nebo-Sarsekim as a chief officer of Nebuchadnezzar who was with the King at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Jeremiah records that several of Nebuchadnezzar’s top officials took seats in the Middle Gate once they broke through the walls of Jerusalem.

The Assyrian tablet identifies Nebo-Sarsekim as the chief eunuch of Nebuchadnezzar, thus confirming Jeremiah’s reference. The full translation of the tablet reads:

(Regarding) 1.5 minas (0.75 kg or 1.65 pounds) of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple] Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin, son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.{2}

The tablet is the financial record of Nebo-Sarsekim’s gift of gold given to the Temple of Esangila, which was located in the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon.{3} This financial transaction took place in the 10th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar while Nabu-Sarsekim was serving as the chief officer to Nebuchadnezzar. This was nine years before the siege of Jerusalem. Dr. Jursa states, “It’s very exciting and very surprising. Finding something like this tablet, where we see a person mentioned in the Bible making an everyday payment to the temple in Babylon and quoting the exact date, is quite extraordinary.”{4}

The Significance of the Discovery

The significance of this discovery is that the Tablet of Nabu is a text outside of the Bible that confirms Jeremiah’s record of Nebo-Sarsekim as a historical figure. Nebo-Sarsekim is not a prominent figure, but the fact that Jeremiah was accurate on details such as these adds considerable credibility to the Book of Jeremiah. If a writer is accurate on minor details like this, we can be confident that other recorded events which may not have archaeological confirmation are also true. Dr Irving Finkel, assistant keeper in the Department of the Middle East stated, “This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find. If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power.”{5}”

To read more click here.

Biblical Confirmation

From the Biblical Archaeology Society.

“The existence of a significant Biblical figure has been confirmed through the translation of a cuneiform inscription on a small tablet from 595 B.C.E. Assyriologist Michael Jursa came across a somewhat-familiar name, Nabusharrussu-ukin, during his translation of the tablet. He then checked Jeremiah 39, where he found mention of Nebo-Sarsekim, a different spelling of the same name. The tablet, from the tenth year of Nebuchadnezzar II’s reign, indicates that the person in question was the king’s “chief eunuch,” a detail that matches closely with the Biblical text. See also the article in the New York Sun.”

Artifact found shows truth of Old Testament

From Mary Rettig and One News Now.

“A researcher at the British Museum has made a discovery that supports Old Testament historical accounts as fact, says a report from the Telegraph newspaper.”

To read the full article click here.