At the turn of this century, liberal theologians began to question the validity of the Bible, saying that it was full of historical inaccuracies. Right after this wave of criticism arose, a new series of monumental archaeological discoveries were made which countered every one of these arguments.

For example, there had never been any historical record of the court where Jesus Christ was tried by Pilate – called the “Gabbatha” or pavement in John 19:13. Many said, “It’s a myth. See … the Bible is not historical.”

William F. Albright, in The Archeology of Palestine, shows that this court was the court of the Tower of Antonia, which was the Roman military headquarters of Rome in Jerusalem. The court was destroyed between 66 A.D. – 70 A.D. during the siege of Jerusalem. It was left buried when the city was rebuilt in the time of Hadrian, and not discovered until recently.