The New Testament episode is now available: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eceVmpxltt_VY2Q.html Buy the poster: usefulcharts.com/products/biblical-family-tree

It’s important to note that although currently we don’t have archaeological proof the others existed, it does not necessarily mean that they did not exist

It's amazing how the verification of so many Iron age biblical characters is based on only one item. It shows that it is REALLY hard to get your name known outside of your timeline during this period.

I remember reading Herodotus describing the pyramids and how even in his time Egyptian priests knew little of their origins. And the books of Kings are a biblical eye opener for its importance as a historical document when compared with other sources from the time. Fascinating stuff.

I just went through the Bible recently and noticed what you described as well. That the beginning books are very general narratives written then later in Samuel-kings-minor prophets there's so much detail it becomes difficult to keep up. I am a Christian and this knowledge doesn't diminish my faith, in fact it strengthens it. I appreciate the work you did compiling all this info!

People who insist on believing biblical literalism are often shocked to learn how much the Bible gets wrong, historically. Meanwhile, people who reject biblical literalism are often shocked to find how much the Bible gets right, historically.

This was actually super interesting, much of the archeology referenced I had no idea about. I’d definitely want to see a New Testament version too

The Bronze Age charcters versus Iron Age characters blew my mind . What a good book list to really start to understand the Bible in such a scholarly way .

As a history buff, i'd love a part 2 with the NT.

The quantity of artifacts stored in the British Museum is astonishing

I'm not even religious but this whole history regarding the bible interests me a lot

Amazing stuff! I've watched several of these videos and I love each one of them! My 12-year-old niece who goes to a Christian school learns this stuff in her history class, yet it's amazing how it is basically scarce knowledge in the world we live in today. Looking forward to your videos in the future!

The fact that David was mentioned so early already speaks volumes about how the very earliest Judaeans viewed themselves even if it can't confirm the concrete David and I think that connects us to these iron age people in such a beautiful way

I think it’s important to point out that the Bronze Age, Iron Age and classical antiquity are useful categories for describing the history of the Middle East as far as Iran, the Mediterranean world, Northern Europe and North Africa, but aren’t all that useful when discussing anywhere else in the world. For example India, China and sub Saharan Africa all developed these tools on very different timescales.

I think all your charts are great! And this info is a fabulous addition. Thank you!

This is REALLY helpful. Thank you so much for all your hard work!!!!

0:00 The Complete Family Tree of The Bible 0:17 "This is based on complete fiction" 0:33 "Well, here's the thing...." 1:13 37 Real People mentioned in The Bible, found in The Archaeological Record, outside The Bible. *_Sponsored By_* 1:38 Dante Labs Genomes 3:11 Start of the video proper. *The 3 Ages of Antiquity* 3:22 Bronze, Iron, Classical 3:47 Iron Age 3:58 Classical Antiquity 4:15 The Old Testament takes place during The Bronze and then The Iron Age. *The Iron Age People are Archaeologically Recorded* 4:32 37 Bible Characters found in the archaeological record 5:24 Iron Age City Dwellers *Some of The Major Civilizations of Antiquity* 5:54 Egyptians, Hittites, and Greeks 6:05 The Bronze Age Collapse, Around 1200. 6:20 Greek Dark Ages *Old Testament people confirmed in the Archaeological Record* 7:56 Omri, King of Israel, Founder of Sumeria. ✅ 8:54 Ahab and Jezebel ✅ 9:25 Ben Hadad The II ✅ and his son, Hazael ✅ 9:38 Jemhorah, son of Ahab ✅ 11:09 King David 11:29 Jehu [There is a picture of him on a stone slab] ✅ 12:09 Ben Hadad III ✅ *Assyrian Records* 12:22 Jenoash et. al. ✅ 13:06 Assyrian King Tiglath- "pol" Pilesar II ✅ 13:35 Assyrian King Sargon II✅ *More Israelites* 14:20 Hezekiah ✅ 15:23 Isaiah The Prophet/Isaiah Navi 15:56 Manassah ✅ *The Egyptian Pharaohs* 17:30 17:43 The 5 Pharaohs "Pharaoh" 18:05 Shawshank/Shishak✅ 18:13 Osorkan IV✅ 18:24 Necho II✅ *Babylonian Records* 18:35 Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon 👑✅ 19:55 Belshazzar✅ The Crown Prince. *Persian Records* 20:24 Cyrus The Great, The Achaemenid Persian King who conquered Babylon and let The Israelites return to Israel. 20:55 Cyrus Cylinder *Greek Records* 21:30 Herodotus, The Father of History

Matt has the single most polite form of clapback on KZfaq and I am here for it

I'd love a NT version. I'd also be fascinated to see a timeline comparing events in the Levant with contemporary events in Greece, or Rome. I have never seen those threads all lined up next to each other, but would love to see. (eg, exodus was a contemporary of the Trojan War, I think? What was going on in Judah during the peleponesian war?)

This was immensely interesting. Thank you for the effort to make this, well done.

I think it's important to point out that, yes, while there is no archaeological record of (for example) the Israelite rulers prior to Ahab, including the "big three" of the Bible - Saul, David, and Solomon - there aren't that many records *period* which have survived (and been discovered) from back then, much less from the bronze age (for important Biblical characters like Abraham, Jacob, and Moses.) So it's not like those earlier Biblical characters are necessarily mythical - they just haven't been proven by the archaeological record. [Possibly "yet", but more likely won't ever be.]

Could not possibly get bored by this biblic series, I'm so in love with your job, keep it up

Some of these comments are really annoying. A lot of people misrepresenting different sides of an argument that isn't even being made here. Great video!

I'm not particularly religious, never have been, and I'm quite pleased about that. But I have read the Bible and I have often thought of it as a vastly underused historical resource. This video is very useful because it explains why the later Old Testament is so much more accurate than the earlier Old Testament. Trouble is, too many people do just dismiss it as a work of fiction. Ignore the religious aspects of it (remember it wasn't written as a religious text, just as a history of the Jewish people) and then re-examine it. There's a lot of verifiable historical accuracy in it and a lot more that is probably accurate, but that we can't prove.

This was so well done Matt! I love seeing things in clear presentations like this. I do think it's probably fair to assume much, if not all, of these Bronze age characters are completely lost to history. They could be fiction or just mythologized figures lost to historical record. I find so many internet skeptics who just axe-grind, wanting everything in the Bible to be fiction. I love seeing your sober take.

It's amazing how much history we've lost even after we started writing things down.

I would absolutely love to see a video like this covering the New Testament! I was actually kind of bummed to see that it didn't. But hey, that just means potentially even more great content :)

Thank you for this. Well done as usual. Looking forward to your NT version.

Yes, a New Testament version would be great.

Part 2 please Matt and thanks for this awesome video!

Hi Math, i'm from Brazil and i love your chanel. Thanks for sharing this things with us!

Well delivered and totally informative, thank you.

One of your very best videos, I think. I love how you are so careful to set things into clear context. It makes the information so powerful-that there’s no doubt exactly what you are discussing.

I'm not Christian or Jewish, but the Bible is a very valuable historical document, even if most of it isn't actual history. It may have embellishments and even fabrications, but there's also a lot of verified history in it, and it wouldn't surpise me if we find more evidence in the future for people like David or Solomon. On top of the history held within, the Bible is also useful for understanding the mindsets of the people who were around when it was first written, and dismissing it as pointless or mere fiction is a great disservice to the historical community

Thanks for your thorough research and clear visual display 😊

Thank you for preparing and sharing this important video.

Man... I LOVE YOU! Literally! I like the fact that you're so objective. Telling us what exactly is, and not what we would want to hear! Like when you put a disclaimer on David's historicity. Thanks a lot. And I'll definitely look forward to a similar video about the new testament!

I’m going to say something controversial, Dr. Baker. I know that so many people criticize you for either presenting the Bible as it is and others criticize you for presenting the state of the art in biblical studies. Many in the latter category have said you hate G-d or religion or whatever. I can say that my belief in Judaism has been strengthened by videos like this. As someone with a K-12 orthodox Jewish education (thankfully with an incredibly strong emphasis on secular knowledge also), I wish someone would have taught me these things that I have learned from you. That we have archeological evidence for most the kings and most of what is said about them is more or less true (albeit exaggerated at times to a point). That King David was probably a real person etc. Yes, you don’t take the Bible literally (and because I know science is true, I don’t wholly either), but that does not mean that your videos are anti religion. So I appreciate that. I have to sign off for shabbat. Shabbat Shalom.

The Charts put a greater understanding of what the Bible was, and is today. I appreciate your time and energy creation this work. Thank you.

This is so informative. As a lover of history, its great to learn a lot

Thank you Matt Baker as always! You are enlightening and educational I enjoy 90% of what you put out. And I love all the Bible stuff.

I truly appreciate the work and effort you put into creating these videos. I never find them to be preachy or pushing religion, but instead show clear historical timelines as described in the text.

You explain everything according to the timeline and suggest you keep up the good work. I personally learned a lot from this video.

Fantastic video! I've always known that the Old Testament mixed history with fable and your video helped to illustrate which is which in such an objective and constructive way.

Being a Jew gave me a lot of perspective on religious text cuz to me it feels more like the mythology of my people. As every myth there’s some truth within the myth.

Fascinating. Would like to see the follow up on the New Testament as well. Thanks for posting this!

Wow, serious study and visuals are great to see, with the archaeological artefacts, and must say very humbly done. Thankyou.

Thank you for all your hard work, I appreciate it.

Excellent as always. Thanks, Matt. Please part 2!

Such a lovely video showcasing both actual history as well as how literary genres have evolved over time.

I would love a part two for the New Testament. You explain things with such clarity!

This was so well done! I'd love to see a similar video about the New Testament.

I am a native Hebrew speaker, and can read all those Paleo-Hebrew records that you showed. (Although many of the letters are very blurry and difficult to read).

This was really interesting. I would love to see a similar video of the New Testament

I'm saving this one! Very helpful, thanks!

Yes, definitely do a video covering the New Testament! Very good work with this video, mazel tov!

U sure the characters here didn’t just pay to get the verification checkmarks?

Thank you Matt for making history easily accessible.

Thanks I always enjoy your work, get well soon.

Yes! Volume 2 on New Testament figures! I love your vids and how they are visually laid out in charts!! It’s crazy how all these valuable artifacts from these cultures are in other museums in countries across the globe… I’m sure there are reasons for this like the effort taken to undertake the task of discovering them, from said countries…. But nevertheless something to think about…

As a Christian, I absolutely loved this. Thank you 😊

I always wanted to be an archeologist and have a background in Humanities of Religion and Mythology. Your charts are very informative and I really enjoy your videos. Fact vs fiction has been a question forever. I find that more I study, research that some truth is a percent of verbal stories are of true origin. Just my thought and thank you very much for your videos. Blessings.

Extremely interesting. Thankyou for your labor there.

This is very well done. Ty. I was captivated..

Would love a part two for the new testament

Waiting for part two. This is too interesting a subject to leave us hanging. Great work.

These videos are very helpful..Thank you!!

Well explained and great way to illustrate the narrative.

There's a video by Bible Project that also talks about how the history in the Old Testament was written more like moral lessons taught using historical figures. It reminds me of the George Washington and the cherry tree story everyone gets told in early elementary school 😃

Awesome!! Would love to see a similar thing for the NT!!

Great video! I will love to see a similar version on the NT. Thank you for your hard work.

This is one of the best biblical history lesson I have had. Thank you for creating this. May I ask if you could provide more references for finding the info that you presented please? Could you also create a video on what those archeological artefacts say about those historical biblical people please?

I normally love your videos and this is fascinating as usual, but the bit about the Bronze Age collapse could have been more accurate, I´m afraid (source: I´m an archaeologist specialising in the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition). So in case you are reading this, for future reference: The Greek Dark Ages are considerably longer than 250 years, at least in most sources I have read. People disagree a bit where they are supposed to end, but they are usually assumed to cover the entire Early Iron Age (until 700 BCE at the latest) as well as the latest part of the Bronze Age (the 250 years you mentioned would be that time frame). Also, a lot of archaeologists avoid the term today, because it´s a bit disparaging and also, it was originally chosen to reflect the fact that we didn´t know much about that time. This is no longer the case, so the tendency seems to go towards using "Postpalatial Period" (for the Bronze Age part) and "Early Iron Age" instead. I also assume that the volcano eruption you mentioned as a potential cause for the BA collapse is the Thera eruption? Because that was several centuries earlier and very likely not a factor (exactly how many is a difficult problem, but it´s at the very least 200 years and potentially up to 500). Likewise, the pandemic idea is usually based on Hittite sources about some sort of plague, but once again, this is about 120 years before the actual BA collapse. It was certainly a factor in what happened to the Hittite empire and their fall in turn likely had further destabilizing effects, but I wouldn´t call it a pandemic. We do have ecidence for climate change around that time that could have lead to famine, and also for a potential earthquake storm in Greece. Migration also happened, but a lot of it may have been a consequence of whatever caused the collapse and not the cause of the collapse itself. War is a difficult topic - it´s attested, as far as I know, for the final destruction of Ugarit via letters send by the king, but it´s much more dubious for a lot of the Greek sites, for example, where - if anything - more of a revolution against the palatial elite seems to have taken place. Also also I would be very careful with claiming that Iliad and Odyssey are reflecting Bronze Age stories exclusively. We assume that the oral tradition they are based on started in the Bronze Age, probably in the Postpalatial Period, i.e. after 1200 BCE, but a large part of both poems was formed during the Iron Age, so while there are Bronze Age reflections in there, they are fewer than people often assume. I apologize for the essay, but this really stood out to me and I hope it will help for future videos!

This is wonderful, thanks! And yes, I would love to see a similar charting of New Testament folks. Cheers!

Excellent work, thank you!

I just stubbled across this video in my feed and find it extremely fascinating. Thanks for sharing this. And yes, I would like to see and know more.

Gorgeous! I never came across such clear and well based overview about the historicity of biblical persons! I'm not a believer at all, but this is important and highly interesting, though.

Definately do a New Testament one! This was great!

When I have some down time. This is my go to. I find this channel useful… -when doing the dishes. -making bread -doing certain tasks at work, grading,setting pavers or deconstructing concrete forms etc. -also, turning my brain off a little, before going to sleep. Which I am trying to do right meow.

This was a very interesting, informative video. Your scholastic research is thorough. 😊

I was cooking, and wondered what I could be watching while eating my dinner. This came in handy. Thank you very much

Very interesting, would love to see a part 2!

This is extremely interesting, thank you!

Thank you for going thru this. Very interesting!!!

Yes, I would like to see a similar video on the NT. Thanks!

A most instructive and even-handed presentation, as usual! I would absolutely love to see a similar video on the Apocrypha and New Testament (or one on each)!

Very well explained. One of the best video.

Fascinating, I'm going to jump right into your NT video.

Thanks Matt! I, for one, would love to see a NT accounting of historical persons. I would not be surprised if most of them can be verified by either Greek or Roman sources, but I think it would be very interesting.

NT version for sure. I’m intrigued by the Greek dark ages. I wonder what sort of cataclysm would cause such a thing and how any history prior to it was basically lost.

Super Cool and nerdy! Love it! Thank you.

Great work, thanks for the research, would love to see your insights on the New Testament and even Apocryphal people

Thank you so much for drawing out the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Classical Age. I always knew the terms, but I did not know how they fit against the Bible's timeline. Please continue on with the NT Bible characters confirmed in archeology!

"Pics or it didn't happen" 😂😂 This is why i love this channel.

Incredible, thank you!

No matter how many times Matt explains his religious charts, there are always those kind of comments. Your patience amazes me. I'd tell them all to take a long walk off a short pier! Great video, Matt!

I would LOVE a NT version of this! Archeological support has been a huge boon for Christian apologetics in the last 20-30 years!

You do incredible research and work. I would like to see you do the same for the new testament.

I really appreciate your scholarship, so much so that I purchased the book on world civilizations. I may get this chart also.

Gee whiz that's marvelous and congratulations. !!!