| (1) Historical Reliability of the Bible | (2) Exhibit #15: Old Testament Biblical archaeology |
| (3) Exhibit #16: New Testament Biblical archaeology | (4) Exhibit #17: The ancient Chinese writings |
☼ Exhibit #15: (4) The Price of a Slave |
Biblical Archaeological finds for the Old Testament |
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| Silver Scrolls | Sodom and Gomorrah | Nuzi or Nuzu tablets |
| Price of a slave | Conquest of Jericho | City of Shiloh |
| House of David | Kings of Israel and Judah | Cyrus Cylinder |
The Price of a Slave
Archaeological finds such as the Nuzi tablets make it possible to track the price of slaves in ancient times. Similar to oil prices in our day, in the Old Testament times a slave was traded according to the appropriate price current then.
In Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) and in his book On the Reliability of the Old Testament[1] renowned archaeologist Kenneth A. Kitchen analyses the price of a slave mentioned in the Bible compared to the “free market.” As he writes in BAR[2]: “One important item involves the price of slaves in silver shekels. From ancient Near Eastern sources we know the price of slaves in some detail for a period lasting about 2,000 years, from 2400 BC to 400 BC Under the Akkad Empire (2371–2191 BC), a decent slave fetched 10–15 silver shekels, though the price dropped slightly to 10 shekels during the Third Dynasty of Ur (2113–2006 BC). In the second millennium BC during the early Babylonian period, the price of slaves rose to about 20 shekels, as we know from the Laws of Hammurabi and documents from Mari and elsewhere from the 19th and 18th centuries BC By the 14th and 13th centuries BC, at Nuzi and Ugarit, the price crept up to 30 shekels and sometimes more. Another five hundred years later, Assyrian slave markets demanded 50 to 60 shekels for slaves; and under the Persian Empire (fifth and fourth centuries BC), soaring inflation pushed prices up to 90 and 120 shekels.”
Price of a Slave in Ancient Times
The Bible tells us “when
the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of
the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the
Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt” (Genesis 37:28). In the
Mosaic Law we read the price for a slave in the 1450s BC: “If
the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty
shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be
stone” (Exodus 21:12). And lastly, Menahem, king of
Figure 14-1[3] presents this data graphically. As one can see, the Biblical accounts are consistent with other ancient sources.
This is extremely significant. If the Torah was written during the Babylonian exile (sixth century BC) or even later as many liberal scholars claim,[4] how could its writers have known with accuracy the price of a slave perhaps 1,200 years earlier? They would not have had access to this kind of information
Biblical Archaeological finds for the Old Testament |
||
| Silver Scrolls | Sodom and Gomorrah | Nuzi or Nuzu tablets |
| Price of a slave | Conquest of Jericho | City of Shiloh |
| House of David | Kings of Israel and Judah | Cyrus Cylinder |
[1] K.A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2001), pages 344-345.
[2] K.A. Kitchen, BAR 21:02 (March/April 1995). Biblical Archaeology Society, (2002).
[3] Figure copied from article in BAR 21:02 (March/April 1995). Biblical Archaeology Society, (2002).
[4] See ‘Documentary Hypothesis’ discussed in Exhibit #4: Authorship of the Pentateuch. chapter 10.