By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
A decade-old study claiming to find evidence of the earthquake described in the Bible at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion is reigniting debate after resurfacing online, the Daily Mail of UK reported on Thursday night.
The Gospel of Matthew says ‘the earth shook’ moments after Jesus cried out before dying on the cross, and researchers in 2012 reported evidence that could support the verse.
A team of geologists examined sediment layers near the Dead Sea, about 25 miles from where many scholars believe the crucifixion took place. Their analysis revealed signs of at least two significant earthquakes affecting the region.
Disturbances in the sediment pointed to a major quake around 31 BC and a smaller seismic event sometime between 26 and 36 AD.
Researchers noted that this period aligns with the years Pontius Pilate served as procurator of Judea, the timeframe in which the Gospel of Matthew describes an earthquake following Jesus’s death.
Pontius Pilate, the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judea, is identified in the Bible as the official who presided over Jesus’s trial and ultimately sentenced him to death. Many scholars believe the crucifixion occurred around 33 AD.
However, the researchers cautioned that several explanations could account for the seismic evidence. One possibility is that it corresponds to the earthquake described in Matthew’s Gospel. Another is that a separate earthquake occurred around the time of the crucifixion and was later woven into the biblical narrative.
The study, making waves on X, has been hailed as proof for the crucifixion by many, while others have expressed doubt over its precise dating and the causal link to the biblical event.
However, scientists can determine when earthquakes struck even thousands of years earlier, using a range of modern dating techniques.
These include radiocarbon testing of organic material found in fault trenches, analyzing tsunami deposits, examining disturbed sediment layers and studying tree rings through a method known as dendrochronology.
The debate began when an X user shared a post, which has been viewed more than 65,000 times, saying: ‘Science (once again) confirms the Bible as a true account.’
Others flooded the comments, with one user saying, ‘This matches the exact time when Jesus was crucified,’ while many others were quick to dismiss the findings.
The Dead Sea sits on a major fault line called the Dead Sea Transform, where two tectonic plates, the Arabian Plate and the Sinai Plate, meet and slide past each other.
Because of this, the area is very prone to earthquakes.
This fault mostly runs north to south, and in some places the ground pulls apart, and in others it pushes together, which creates different types of cracks and breaks in the Earth’s crust.
The Dead Sea itself lies in a deep basin formed by this movement and is the lowest place on land on Earth. The region has experienced frequent earthquakes over the past century, and historical and archaeological records show that quakes have occurred there for at least 4,000 years.
Scientists found layers of sediment beneath the Dead Sea that appear bent and disturbed. They believe these distortions were caused by ancient earthquakes triggered by movement along the fault line.
By studying sediment layers at Ein Gedi near the Dead Sea, the team was able to read the Earth’s history year by year.
Each year, the lake deposits a layer of sediment: a heavier winter layer and a lighter summer layer.
By counting these layers, called ‘varves,’ researchers can figure out how many years passed and identify unusual events like earthquakes.
Some layers were deformed, meaning the sediment was bent or broken.
Scientists interpreted these deformed layers as evidence of ancient earthquakes.
By tracking these layers across two core samples, they built a timeline of earthquakes and yearly sediment deposits from 31 BC to 31 AD.
The sediment also records climate conditions, such as after a major earthquake in 31 BC, the summer layers were thinner and contained more gypsum, which suggested a drought.
Historical records, like those written by the Jewish historian Josephus, described famine and dry conditions in Judea at the same time, supporting the evidence from the sediments.
Using this timeline, scientists tried to identify which earthquake could match the one described in the Bible at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion. Based on their analysis, the quake most likely occurred between 26 and 36 AD, during the period when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea.
Some layers were damaged or unclear, so the exact year is uncertain. However, independent studies using the same core samples produced similar results, giving researchers confidence in the dating.
The team also compared these sediments to other earthquakes reported in the region, including quakes in 19 AD, 37 AD, 47 AD and 48 AD. None were close enough or strong enough to have left the same marks in the Ein Gedi sediments.
This leaves three possibilities: the earthquake described in the Gospel of Matthew really happened as reported; it was a nearby quake incorporated into the biblical account; or it was an unrecorded earthquake, strong enough to deform the sediments but not noted in historical records.
