Retail Centers and Inflation Not Unique to Modern Times

Retail centers and inflation were well known in Bible times.

Not unlike modern cities  merchants like to  establish their business in areas where there was a lot of traffic. The Bible mentions  markets at various city gates in ancient Jerusalem such "The Fish Gate," The Sheep Gate, and the "Gate of Potsherds."

There was even a "street of the bakers according to Jeremiah 37:21

Naturally such names referred to the type of goods sold at each of these gates and commercial centers  -- mentioned in Nehemiah 3: 1,3 and Jeremiah 19:2 just as some street names in modern cities suggest the type of commercial activity carried on there -- such as Fleet or Wall Streets in England and the United States.

Like our modern era goods were sold through bartering as well as money and customers had to cope both a variety of prices  as well as inflation down through they years.

For example at the time that Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery in the 18th century B.C.E. in a jealous rage all they received for him was 20 silver pieces -- possibly a shekel. But 300 years later the price for a slaver shot up to 30 shekels according to Exodus 3: 32 and by the eighth century B.C.E. the price for a slave was 50 shekels as described in the 2 Kings 15:20 account. And 200 years after this the asking price for a slave was 90 shekels -- or more.

So both shopping at the local market or mall and having to pay ever more for  food and other items seems to be common  to both Biblical and  our modern worlds.

Did the Pool of Siloam Actually Exist?

Remember how Jesus told the blind man, after putting softened clay on his eyes, " Go wash in the pool of Siloam."? The did what Jesus says, the Bible account at John 9: 6,7 says, and came back seeing.

But, did this pool actually exist? Many tourists in modern times have bathed in a pool found at the end of the 530-metre-long tunnel  King Hezekiah constructed at the end of the eighth century B.C.E.

It was later discovered that the pool found here was built by Byzantine Christians in the fourth century C.E. long after  Jesus' time.   Apparently they thought the original Pool of Siloam would have been at the end of this tunnel and so decided to reconstruct the pool there.

The true Pool of Siloam has been discovered, however. In 2004, archaeologists found the remains of another pool 100 meters  southeast of the Byzantine pool and concluded that this was actually the site of the original Pool of Siloam.

This was discovered accidentally by an alert archaeologist watching workers repair a sewer main. When the work was halted an archaeological team went in and discovered the pool of 70 meters long.

It had fallen into disuse after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and had gradually filled in with mud washed down the nearby v alley during winter storms. 

The archaeological discovery  proves the accuracy of the Gospel account of Jesus restoring the eyesight of the blind man.

Trusted Genealogists

Great care was taken with these genealogies by the government and private families: Because accurate genealogies were so critical special officers were assigned to keep such family histories according  Flavius Josephus and the editors of The Jewish Encyclopedia.

Special steps were taken to ensure the accuracy of these public records  of royal, priestly, and Levitical families. First of all the  character of these historians was carefully checked  to make sure they were ethical and diligent workers. And their work was  examined in detail by a court of inquiry established in Jerusalem. 

Their work  proved priceless:  Through these genealogies Gospel writers such as Mathew, Mark and Luke were able to trace the ancestry of Jesus all the way back to King David -- as could other prominent religious leaders of Jesus" time  such as rabbi Hellel. And even Flavius Josephus could prove that he was of royal blood on his mother's side.

Because  such genealogies were also need to  proved  family ties and inheritances and other rights  families also  appointed one family members or members to preserve an accurate family history down through the years