Extra-Biblical Evidences of Biblical Persons and/or Events: Nehemiah's Wall

Since no archeological evidence had ever been found to corroborate it, archeologists over the years have tended to discount the historicity of the book of Nehemiah and its account of the repairs on the damaged wall of Jerusalem.  That is, until 8 November 2007, when archeologist Eilat Mazar (b. 1956, Israel) announced that she had found it.  Her discovery is now fully recognized as the correct interpretation.  The wall fits the biblical description of the area and the site was dated by pottery found at the wall.  Pottery? Yes, it would have been used to carry drinking water for the workers and possibly food.  When a pot broke, the pieces were left where they fell.  Pottery styles are different for different cultures and are often used in dating archeological sites.

נְחֶמְיָה

Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah (Nehemiah 1:1) was a captive/slave of the Persian King Artaxerxes I (d. 424 BC/BCE).  He served as the king's "cupbearer" and was sent by the king to be the governor of Jerusalem in 445 BC/BCE.  Why would the king of Persia choose a minor, non-Persian slave to be his representative in a faraway country?  Because Nehemiah asked him to.

Think about this. It was punishable by death to speak to, or even to approach, the king unless one was summoned.  This is shown in the book of Esther, where the beautiful Jewish girl Hadassah was afraid to approach King Ahasuerus of Persia (aka. Xerxes I the Great; Khshayarsha, ruled 486-465 BC/BCE).  She was afraid to speak to him even though she had been chosen as his new queen; she was his wife.


"All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days." Esther 4:11


No wonder that Nehemiah said, "Then I was very sore afraid,"  Of course, he was afraid.  He was just a minor house servant, but he had to be a very well trusted servant.  He was in a position where he could have poisoned the king's wine, and, in order to hand the king his cup of wine, Nehemiah would have been close enough to the king to successfully lunge at him with a concealed knife or with his bare hands.


Artaxerxes obviously trusted Nehemiah; it seems that he may have even liked Nehemiah. 

"And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.  Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,  And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?  Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.  And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it." Nehemiah 2:1-5.


Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah letters of recommendation and building supplies, and appointed him as governor of Jerusalem.

Links for more information on Nehemiah’s wall:

http://www.biblicalarchaeologytruth.com/nehemiahs-wall.html 

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=83627