Getting it Right: Research for Family Bible Story

From the very beginning, everyone involved in the Family Bible Story agreed that the books should draw upon the best and latest archeological discoveries. The reason for this is simple. With TV, videos, and movies influencing so much of their lives, our kids live in a make-believe world. They need to see archaeological evidence of the biblical world in order to anchor the stories in reality.

The author, Ruth Brand, could have written these stories based on her own study and the research of others. Instead the FBS team went on a three-week tour of Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Led by world-renowned archaeologist Siegfred Horn and joined by editor Gerald Wheeler and project coordinator Mr. Gail Hunt, Brand had the adventure of a lifetime.

They walked on the rock-strewn beach of the Sea of Galilee.
watched heavy snow clouds gather over Mt. Sinai.
sat around a small fire in the front yard of a Jericho home, sharing food and stories

They learned that one truly goes down to Jericho-on a narrow road that is dangerous even today.

Artists for FBS didn't just rely on their fashion sense to come up with clothes for the Bible characters. "In the Beni Hasen tombs of Egypt are paintings of Canaanites. We had the artist reference them in his drawings of Abraham's, Issac's, and Jacob's clothing," says Wheeler.

Drawings of houses and palaces are based on reconstruction of ruins by archaeologists. Descriptions of buildings within the stories are also based on these reconstructions. "We tried to help the authors write more from reality than from imagination," says Wheeler.

Trent Truman, designer of the FBS books, agrees. "The ostrich egg vase in the picture of Abraham bargaining for the use of a well is based on an artifact found at Royal Tombs of Ur by archaeologist Sir Charles Leonard Woolley," he says. "Of course, Abraham lived in the city of Ur before God called him to leave his roots."

The following facts will be of interest to readers who enjoy knowing the "story behind the stories":

the drawing of a dog in story 6 of Joseph is based upon the type of dog kept by Canaanites at that period in history.
the pottery in different pictures all match real artifacts from nearby locations and the same time periods.
a headpiece that Leah wears on her wedding day is based a headpiece found in the tombs of Ur.

Richard Coffen, FBS coordinator, interviewed Randall W. Younker, a professor in the Old Testament department of the Theological Seminary of Andrews University and a consultant on the FBS books. "I asked him several questions-ranging from how did house doors open to what did a basket or piece of pottery look like," Coffen says. "In Abraham's time most baskets were made from a coiled 'rope' and not woven with what we'd call a basket weave."

All this research helps make the Bible stories real in a child's life.

Members of the FBS team visited the following museums and drew from their collections and publications to enrich the stories and illustrations in the Family Bible Story.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England

Baltimore's Walter's Art Gallery

Boston Museum of Fine Art

British Museum

Brooklyn Museum

Cairo Museum

Cleveland Museum of Art

Exhibit Museum of the University of Pennsylvania

Field Museum and the Oriental Institute, both in Chicago

Harvard Semitic Museum

Horn Museum, Andrews University

Israel Museum

Jewish Museum, New York City

Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan

Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute

New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

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