Bible 101

Lesson 5: Archaeological Proof: Are the Stories we read about in the OT true?

The Hittites

Until the late nineteenth century, many Bible scholars doubted the very existence of a people known as the Hittites, just as they shelved the Horites, Jebusites, and Amorites as historical fiction.
Yet, this group of people is mentioned extensively in the Bible. In Genesis 23 we have a description of Abraham buying a plot of land from the Hittites to bury his wife Sarah, Isaac‘s mother. Even King David was reported to have sold Egyptian chariots to the Hittites.

We have prove the Hittites existed
In 1906, German archaeologist Hugo Winckler (5) excavated the ruins of the ancient city of Hattusha in present-day Turkey. After excavating several large temples, he found more than 10,000 clay tablets inscribed with what is now known to be the Hittite (Kanesian) language. These led to the excavation of a vast number of other cities, which were once part of the Hittite Empire. These discoveries proved not only the existence of the Hittites (6) as a people, but also their status of having been a great power along with Egypt and Assyria for over 1,000 years. In addition, further excavations confirmed the existence of the Horites, the Jebusites and a number of other nations listed in the book of Genesis.

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