ARCHAEOLOGY: Uzziah's Earthquake

....before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah...

Zechariah 14:5

 

"Archaeologists in Jerusalem uncovered a layer of ruin that featured smashed jars, lamps, and cooking vessels. They determined these items were crushed when the building they were stored in collapsed. Since no signs of fire were uncovered, they don’t believe they were smashed in a military conquest but, rather, during an earthquake—the very earthquake described by two Old Testament prophets.

The excavation directors explain,

When we excavated the structure and exposed a layer of destruction from the eighth century BC, we were very surprised, because we know that Jerusalem existed

continually until the Babylonian destruction, which occurred some 200 years later.

We asked ourselves what could have caused the dramatic layer of destruction we had uncovered. After examining the findings from the dig, we tried to look into whether there was a Biblical explanation for it. Interestingly, the earthquake mentioned in the books of Amos and Zechariah happened in the same period when the building we excavated in the City of David collapsed.

The combination of the discovery in the field along with the Biblical description led us to conclude that the earthquake that caused damage to the Land of Israel during the reign of Uzziah King of Judah, also damaged the capital of the kingdom – Jerusalem.

Yes, God’s Word really is true and is a reliable record of history because ultimately it comes from the One who knows everything, has always been there, and does not lie to us." AIG