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1. Nebuchadnezzar official mentioned on newly deciphered cuneiform tablet
"The British Museum [Wednesday] hailed a discovery within a modest clay tablet in its collection as a breakthrough for biblical archaeology—dramatic proof of the accuracy of the Old Testament," says the London Times.

The Telegraph likewise reports: "Michael Jursa … made what has been called the most important find in Biblical archaeology for 100 years, a discovery that supports the view that the historical books of the Old Testament are based on fact."

What Jursa found was this inscription, on one of the 130,000 Assyrian cuneiform tablets housed in the British Museum:

(Regarding) 1.5 minas (0.75 kg) of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple] Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin, son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

In other words, chief eunuch Nebo-Sarsekim gave gold to the Temple of Esangila. Not impressed? Here's Jeremiah 39:3 (NIV):

Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon.

The British Museum's Irving Finkel told the Times, "A mundane commercial transaction takes its place as a primary witness to one of the turning points in Old Testament history. This is a tablet that deserves to be famous."

Likewise, he told The Telegraph: "This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find. If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."

Bible scholar and blogger Jim West isn't so sure. "I'm not really sure why a cylinder naming Nebo-Sarsekim is big news at all. No one has ever argued that there was no Babylonian of that name," he wrote on his blog. "The artifact demonstrates the use by the biblical authors of archival materials gleaned from contacts with those archives. But even this is not 'proof' of the biblical narrative."

Peter Kirk gloats over at TNIV Truth, noting that Nebo-Sarsekim is named only in NIV, TNIV and NLT translations of Jeremiah 39:3. "For once we have clear and new archaeological evidence that TNIV is more accurate than ESV," he writes.

2. Ghana "miracle" pastor arrested in Uganda for magic trick
When Ghanaian pastor Obiri Konjo Yeboah (or Kojo Nana Obiri-Yeboah or Yeboah Nana Kojo, depending on the news source) entered Uganda, officials at the airport seized his luggage. Inside was a machine that they believed was a piece of bomb-making equipment.

It turns out that it was the Yigal Mesika Electric Touch, a gadget sold in magic stores that sends a 12-volt charge into anyone touching the person who's wearing it. The company says it will "create excitement, mystery, curiosity, and supernatural powers all in one forgettable experience."

Ugandan officials are worried about that "supernatural powers" part, and the pastor is now being investigated for fraud.

It's about time, says an editorial in the Ugandan newspaper The Monitor:

Probably, for the very first time our vigilant police may have stumbled upon the explanation to the 'miraculous' falling down that has been going on in many churches. Most of us have either seen in real life or watched on television how pastors touch people who then simply collapse! …

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July (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51