some rich tomb

News sources today had the headline that King Herod’s Tomb was found outside of Jerusalem. That’s what the headline says, but if you read the article you find out that they aren’t sure if it’s really King Herod’s tomb. They haven’t found any inscription or any bones even to at least date the sarcophagus. All they know is it’s a very ornate sarcophagus with decorative carvings in the limestone, indicative of a wealthy, perhaps, very important person. Couldn’t it be anyone then? Why do they want to prove that it was Herod’s tomb?

The audacity of news sources to post an uncertain fact as its headline really disturbs me. We all know headlines are supposed to be dramatic and grab your attention, but to state something as a fact when it is still unclear seems wrong to me.

Archaeology is a fascinating subject, but one that’s also tainted by numerous motives. Biblical archaeology can often be the most controversial because archaeologists often find what they’re looking for. Take Jericho for example. In the Bible it says that the walls surrounding the city eventually fell due to the efforts of Joshua and the Israelites. Archaeologists aiming to prove the Bible correct, will undoubtedly find evidence of ancient walls in the sediment surrounding the city. Archaeologists who do not believe in the Bible as a true record of events, may not find any evidence of walls, perhaps only a layer of sediment that’s distinctly different and cannot be said to be a wall or not.

Heinrich Schliemann, who claimed to have found the legendary city of Troy, made the claim the moment his digging turned up some ancient jewelry. He’d been looking for Troy forever and at the first sign of jewelry, declared that he’d found the “jewels of Helen,” placing them on his wife. In his excitement, he’d dug through most of the classic city and onto an earlier age. But he’d been looking for Troy and so he was blind to any other possibilities.

I fear a society that only finds what it’s looking for. There’s nothing wrong with looking for the good in people and in finding that, or in looking for the good in a situation and finding that, but what happens when we close our mind to other ways of thinking? Some people can’t get past the premise of a certain book or movie because it could disturb them. What’s wrong with being disturbed? Shouldn’t we be looking for our personal understanding of things rather than one that’s handed to us? I wouldn’t force anyone to do anything they don’t feel comfortable with, but I would encourage people to find out if what they fear could actually be something enlightening, or inspiring instead? And when we think we’ve found the truth, hopefully it’s more true than the others that we know, instead of being the only one we’ve ever considered.

I hope it does turn out to be Herod’s tomb. Knowing what you want gets you somewhere a lot faster than not knowing what you want or what you’re looking for. Just be wary of clinging to the first thing you uncover.