Bryant G. Wood<\/b><\/p>\n
Archaeological discoveries in Bible lands over the past 150 years have remarkably verified the accuracy of the biblical record and the reliability of our biblical text. While doing some archaeological research in Israel in the Fall of 1981, I had the opportunity to examine some of these discoveries firsthand. In the pages that follow, I would like to take you on a short tour of some ancient ruins and ancient places where archaeology has confirmed the truth of the Bible, the foundation of our Faith.<\/p>\n
Period of the Judges<\/b><\/p>\n
The city of Shechem, in the hill country of Samaria, was the site of several famous biblical events. It was here that the events of Judges 9 transpired, when Abimelech, son of Gideon, attempted to establish himself as king over Israel. Abimelech did indeed rule for three years (vs. 22), but then opposition arose in Shechem. As a result, Abimelech destroyed the city and sowed it with salt (vs. 45). When the site was excavated between 1956 and 1964, archaeologists found that the city had been violently destroyed in about 1125 B.C., the time of Abimelech, just as the Bible said.<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 16<\/p>\n
Judges 9 further mentions a temple of Baal Berith, or \u201cthe Lord of the Covenant.\u201d Funds from the treasury of this temple financed Abimelech\u2019s rise to power (vs. 4), and it was here that some of the Shechemites sought refuge when Abimelech attacked the city (vs. 46). Abimelech set fire to the temple, killing everyone inside (vss. 47\u201349). The temple of Baal Berith was laid bare by the excavators of Shechem and can still be seen at the site today. It is an enormous building, some fifty-four by sixty-five feet, with walls six feet thick. What is more, a sacred stone was found in front of the temple which is quite possibly the stone set up by Joshua when he made a covenant with the tribes of Israel in Joshua 24:26. The stone is mentioned again in Judges 9:6. There was evidence that the temple was also destroyed in about 1125 B.C.<\/p>\n
The great temple at Shechem, undoubtedly the temple of Baal Berith in Judges 9. The sacred stone can be seen in the right center of the photo<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
During the days of the prophet Samuel, the Israelites were engaged in a bitter war with the Philistines, a war-like people who were attempting to expand their coastal holdings. One costly battle for the Israelites was the battle of Ebenezer described in 1 Samuel 4 in which the Israelites were badly beaten and the Ark of the <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 17<\/p>\n
Covenant was captured by the Philistines. When the two armies mobilized for battle, the Philistines gathered at Aphek and the Israelites at Ebenezer (vs. 1). Aphek has been located at the headwaters of the Yarkon river some fifteen km. east of modem Tel Aviv. Recent excavations at the site by a team from Tel Aviv University have revealed Philistine pottery from the mid-eleventh century B.C., the time of the battle of Ebenezer, demonstrating that it was indeed a Philistine city at that time. Nearby, some three km. to the east, on the road to Shiloh, lies the site of Izbet Sarta. This small village was excavated by scholars from Bar-Ilan University and found to be an Israelite settlement as evidenced by their distinctive four-room houses and stone-lined pits. The village, which is quite possibly Ebenezer itself, was hastily abandoned in the mid-eleventh century B.C., right at the time of the Philistine victory over the Israelites.<\/p>\n
A large four-room house at Izbet Sarta which has been partially restored<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
The United Monarchy<\/b><\/p>\n
Saul was made king over Israel in response to the Philistine <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 18<\/p>\n
threat. Most of his days were spent in waging war with his adversaries until he eventually lost his life in a battle on Mount Gilboa. To show off the trophies of their great victory, the Philistines placed Saul\u2019s armor in the Temple of Ashtaroth (1 Sam. 31:10), his head in the Temple of Dagon (1 Chr. 10:10), and his body on the city wall of Beth Shan (1 Sam. 31:10), several km. east of Mount Gilboa. When Beth Shan was excavated by a University of Pennsylvania team between 1921 and 1933, they found two adjacent temples, called the Northern Temple and the Southern Temple, which dated to the early Iron Age, around the time of Saul and David. The two temples were connected by a complex of rooms and storehouses. The Northern Temple was dedicated to a female deity and the Southern Temple to a male deity, probably corresponding to the female Ashtaroth and the male Dagon in 1 Sam. 31:10 and 1 Chr. 10:10.<\/p>\n
The site of Beth Shan, where Saul\u2019s body was hung on the city wall after his death on Mt. Gilboa<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
Shortly after Saul\u2019s death, when David was struggling to assert himself as the next king of Israel, there was a fight between David\u2019s men and the men of Ishbosheth, Saul\u2019s son and David\u2019s rival for the <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 19<\/p>\n
throne. This battle took place at the Pool of Gibeon as described in 2 Sam. 2:12\u201317. Gibeon was the home of the crafty Gibeonites who had tricked Joshua into making a covenant with them many years before (Joshua 9). The site is located nine km. north of Jerusalem and was extensively excavated by the University of Pennsylvania between 1956 and 1962. One of the more interesting discoveries of the dig was a large pool thirty-six feet in diameter and thirty-six feet deep, cut into the bedrock upon which Gibeon was built. This was most certainly the scene of the battle described in 2 Sam. 2:12\u201317. Access to the lower levels of the pool was by means of a spiral staircase cut along the north and east sides of the pool. Again, an archaeological discovery illuminated, as well as confirmed the accuracy of, an event described in the Bible.<\/p>\n
Steps leading into the Pool of Gibeon where David\u2019s men fought the men of Ishbosheth<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the most remarkable stories from the annals of biblical archaeology comes from Yigael Yadin\u2019s excavations at Hazor. Yadin was well aware of 1 Kings 9:15 which states that Solomon used forced labor to build the cities of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. When Megiddo was excavated by a University of Chicago expedition in the <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 20<\/p>\n
1930\u2019s, they uncovered a number of buildings, including a monumental city gate, which they attributed to Solomon\u2019s building program. In the course of his work at Hazor, Yadin came upon a construction which appeared to be similar to the Megiddo Solomonic gate. Suspecting that the two gates were probably designed and built by the same royal architectural engineers, Yadin staked out the dimensions of the Megiddo gate at Hazor and told his workmen to dig according to this plan. They were amazed when they discovered a city gate conforming to the exact dimensions Yadin had laid out on the ground!<\/p>\n
The eastern half of the Solomonic gate at Megiddo<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
This discovery prompted Yadin to turn his attention to the other city named in 1 Kings 9:15 \u2014 Gezer, a city which had been excavated by a British team in the early years of this century. Archaeology was in its infancy then, and dating techniques had not been refined to the point they are today. As Yadin poured over the reports of that early excavation, his excitement mounted as he saw on a plan what appeared to be half of a gateway, similar to those found at Megiddo and Hazor. The excavators had identified the structure as a Hasmonean fortress, built in the first or second <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 21<\/p>\n
century B.C. Yadin promptly published an article setting forth his theory that this structure was actually a gate built by Solomon in about 950 B.C. His theory was tested when Gezer was reexcavated by an American expedition in the 1960\u2019s and early 1970\u2019s. Sure enough, when they uncovered the other half of the structure, they found that it was a gateway similar in plan to those found at Megiddo and Hazor and that it dated to the days of Solomon.<\/p>\n
The finding of the Solomonic gateways at Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer is but one example of how archaeologists are using the Bible as a reliable reference book for their work in the Holy Land today.<\/p>\n
The Divided Monarchy<\/b><\/p>\n
After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided into the Southern Kingdom under Rehoboam and the Northern Kingdom under Jeroboam. One of Jeroboam\u2019s first acts was to set up golden calves in Bethel and in Dan for the people to worship: \u201cYou have gone to Jerusalem long enough\u201d he told them (1 Kings 12:28, R.S.V.). The city of Dan at the northern extreme of Israel, has been systematically excavated in recent years by the Israel Department of Antiquities. On the northern side of the mound, the excavators discovered a large stone platform which, according to the evidence, was initially erected by Jeroboam and then enlarged by Ahab and Jeroboam II. The platform, measuring fifty-eight feet by sixty-two feet, has all the earmarks of a cultic center and was probably the place where Jeroboam set up the golden calf. On the southern side of the edifice a flight of stairs twenty-six feet wide led to the top.<\/p>\n
From the site of Tell-el-Farah in central Israel comes an amazing verification of biblical history. This site has been identified as Tirza of the Old Testament. Tirza served as the capital of the Northern Kingdom for about forty years, during the reigns of Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri (1 Kings 15:21\u201316:23). During Zimri\u2019s short reign (only seven days, 1 Kings 16:15) the city of Tirza was besieged by a rival faction under Omri. When Zimri saw that the city had been taken by Omri\u2019s forces, he went into his palace, set it on fire and perished in the flames (1 Kings 16:18).<\/p>\n
A level of destruction was found at Tirza corresponding to Omri\u2019s attack in ca. 885 B.C. Moreover, a large building in the northwestern corner of the site may be the very palace where Zimri committed suicide. But the more intriguing find was made in the <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 22<\/p>\n
Edge of the stone platform at Dan, probably constructed by Jeroboam for the golden calf<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
next higher level. Here, the foundations of large well-constructed buildings were found. But, strangely enough, the buildings were never finished! In fact, a dressed stone was found next to one of the buildings, tilted at the stonecutter\u2019s angle nearly ready to be put into position in the wall, but it never made it. It was as if the mason had been quickly summoned to another job. The answer to this puzzle lies in 1 Kings 16. Here we read that after Omri took Tirza, he lived there for a period of six years (vs. 23). During part of this time, however, he was occupied with suppressing political opposition led by one Tibni (vss. 21\u201322). Since Omri was establishing a new dynasty, it was natural that he would want to build a new capital city. This he did, at Samaria (vs. 24). Excavations at Samaria revealed that the first Israelite royal building there was constructed with well-built corners connected by occasional cross stones, exactly as the unfinished buildings at Tirza. So here we have the answer to the puzzle. Omri began construction work on a new palace toward the end of his six years at Tirza. Then the decision was made, evidently rather suddenly, to move the capital to Samaria. The workmen stopped their work at Tirza and began at Samaria, some fifteen km. to the east.<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 23<\/p>\n
Corner of an unfinished building at Tirza, with an unfinished stone in the foreground<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
Samaria continued to be the capital of the Northern Kingdom until it fell to the Assyrians in 721 B.C. After Omri\u2019s death, his son Ahab became the next king. 1 Kings 22:39 speaks of Ahab\u2019s \u201civory house\u201d at Samaria. Later, during the reign of Jeroboam II (ca. 784-748 B.C.), the prophet Amos condemned the luxurious living of those \u201cthat lie upon beds of ivory\u201d (Amos 6:4). What is the meaning of these references to ivory? Are we to imagine that Ahab built a house of solid ivory or that the affluent in the days of Jeroboam II had beds made of solid ivory? The answer is no. Archaeology has supplied us with the proper interpretation of these references to ivory.<\/p>\n
During the years 1931\u20131935, excavations were carried out in the palace area of Samaria by Harvard University and several other institutions. Among the most important finds from this dig were a great number of carved ivory plaques and hundreds of ivory fragments. This group of ivories represents the most important collection of miniature art from the period of the Israelite monarchy ever found in Israel. The ivories were used as inlays on the palace furniture and possibly on the palace walls. So the biblical references <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 24<\/p>\n
to a house of ivory and a bed of ivory merely refer to the fact that ivory was extensively used at Samaria as a decorative inlay on furniture and perhaps on the walls. Similar ivories have been found at the Assyrian cities of Aralan Tash and Nimrud. These no doubt represent booty taken by the Assyrians from Damascus, Phoenica, and perhaps even from Samaria itself.<\/p>\n
After the fall of the Northern Kingdom, the Southern Kingdom of Judah struggled on for over a century until it, too, fell victim to a powerful aggressor from the east \u2014 the Babylonians, who overthrew Jerusalem in 597 B.C. But up until 612 B.C., it was the Assyrians who occupied center stage as the great world power of the day. Judah was in the orbit of Assyrian power and therefore was required to pay tribute on a yearly basis to the Assyrian kings. Occasionally, the kings of Judah would withhold payment. When they did, they would have to be prepared to face the consequences of a punitive campaign by the fierce Assyrian war machine. Such was the case in the days of Hezekiah, giving rise to the stories of courage and faith found in 2 Kings 18, 19; 2 Chr. 32; and Isaiah 36, 37.<\/p>\n
Because Hezekiah withheld tribute (2 Kings 18:7), Sennacherib, who was the Assyrian king at that time, mounted an expedition against Judah in the year 701 B.C. Other than describing what took place in Jerusalem, this expedition is given scant mention in the Scriptures. 2 Kings 18:13 merely states that \u201cSennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them\u201d (R.S.V.). In Sennacherib\u2019s own annals, however, he records that he laid siege to forty-six fortified cities in Judah and took 200,000 captives. With regard to Jerusalem, we have the dramatic story of how God sent an angel of death into the Assyrian army to prevent them from laying siege to the city (2 Kings 19:35\u201336). In a roundabout way, this, too, is verified by Sennacherib\u2019s annals. In them he recorded that he made Hezekiah a prisoner in Jerusalem, \u201clike a bird in a cage.\u201d Sennacherib could not boast of overthrowing Jerusalem or of capturing Hezekiah.<\/p>\n
The most remarkable light that archaeology has thrown on Sennacherib\u2019s Judean campaign, however, does not concern Jerusalem, but rather the city of Lachish. Lachish was the second most important city in Judah in the days of Hezekiah. It lay forty-three km. southwest of Jerusalem and had the important role of guarding the approaches to Jerusalem from that direction. <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 25<\/p>\n
Sennacherib was able to capture Lachish and, since it was the most important city that he conquered on his Judean campaign, he memorialized his victory on a series of sculptured reliefs. The reliefs lined the walls of a special display room in his palace at Nineveh. They remained in that room until Nineveh fell to the armies of the Babylonians, Medes and Scithians in 612 B.C. Nineveh never recovered from that onslaught and the precious reliefs lay in the ruins of the palace until Henry Layard, a pioneer English archaeologist, discovered them in the mid-nineteenth century. He shipped them to London where they remain on exhibit in the British Museum to this day. The reliefs portray the scene at Lachish at the moment of the Assyrian triumph. Judean captives are shown filing out of the city gate, while Sennacherib sits on his throne a short distance away receiving the booty as it is paraded before him.<\/p>\n
As important as the capture of Lachish was to Sennacherib, it was of little importance to the Bible writer. It is only briefly mentioned in 2 Chr. 32:9: \u201cAfter this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him.\u201d The Lachish reliefs, as they are called, marvelously illuminate this verse of Scripture. Not only are the people of Judah and the Assyrian army depicted on the reliefs, but also details of the fortifications of Lachish and the methods of siege warfare used by the Assyrians. Many of the features shown on the reliefs are presently being uncovered at the site of Lachish by a team from Tel Aviv University.<\/p>\n
To begin with, the reliefs show one city gateway with a double set of fortification walls, one at the crest of the mound, or \u201ctell,\u201d that the city was built on, and another about one-third of the way down the side of the mound. This is exactly what the archaeologists found. There was one gate into the city in Hezekiah\u2019s day located at the southwest corner of the mound. Significant portions of a double wall system complying to that shown in the reliefs, have also been exposed. The most dramatic discovery relative to the Lachish reliefs, however, was made just a few years ago in 1977.<\/p>\n
The Lachish reliefs show a \u201csiege ramp\u201d to the right of the city gate, Such ramps were commonly used by the Assyrians when they were besieging a city. An earthen embankment was constructed against the city wall and then the attackers would bring up large wheeled vehicles called \u201csiege engines\u201d to batter down the city wall. This technique is mentioned in the Bible in God\u2019s answer to <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 26<\/p>\n
Hezekiah\u2019s prayer when Hezekiah laid Sennacherib\u2019s threatening letter before Him in 2 Kings 19. God said, through Isaiah, \u201cHe (Sennacherib) shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it\u201d<\/i> (2 Kings 19:32). All of these things had happened to Lachish and Hezekiah knew full well that without Divine intervention, they would surely happen to Jerusalem. When Tel Aviv archaeologists investigated a suspicious pile of boulders at the southwest corner of the tell, just to the right of the gate, they discovered an artificially-built ramp, which is surely Sennacherib\u2019s siege-ramp.<\/p>\n
Sennacherib\u2019s siege ramp at Tel Lachish<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
The New Testament and Beyond<\/b><\/p>\n
Jesus spent much of his earthly ministry in Galilee, in the region of the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Because of their failure to heed His preaching and to repent of their sins, Jesus condemned three of the major cities of this area: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum (Matt. 11:20\u201324, Luke 10:12\u201316). All three of these cities were located around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee and all three lie in ruins today. Extensive archaeological work has <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 27<\/p>\n
been done at Chorazin and Capernaum, but Bethsaida, as yet, has not been excavated. At Chorazin one of the earliest synagogues of Galilee was found, dating to the third century A.D. The synagogue, like the rest of the city, was built of basalt stone, a dark colored volcanic rock native to the area.<\/p>\n
The synagogue at Chorazin, a city condemned by Jesus<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
Capernaum was Jesus\u2019 home base in Galilee; in Matt. 9:1 it is referred to as \u201cHis own city.\u201d A large synagogue has been found there which goes back to the fourth century A.D. In contrast to the synagogue at Chorazin, and the other buildings at Capernaum which are made of black basalt, the synagogue is made of white limestone and thus it stood out in sharp contrast to the other buildings in the town. Jesus preached in a synagogue at Capernaum and also cured a man with an unclean spirit in that same synagogue (Mark 1:21\u201328). But this synagogue has not yet been found. After leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered the nearby house of Simon Peter and Andrew, where He cured Peter\u2019s mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1:29\u201331).<\/p>\n
Between A.D. 381 and 384, a nun by the name of Egeria visited Capernaum and wrote that \u201cAt Capernaum the house of (Peter) has <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 28<\/p>\n
been made into a church, with its original walls still standing.\u201d Such a house-church was found at Capernaum, beneath the ruins of a fifth-century octagonal church not far from the synagogue. Beneath the house-church a simple house was found which had received extra-special attention, setting it apart from the other buildings at Capernaum. In the second half of the first century A.D. the house received a succession of floors of crushed limestone whereas the other houses in the area had floors of hard-packed black earth or basalt pebbles. The walls were covered with plaster decorated by colored geometric and floral designs. In the house were found numerous pieces of plaster with writing on them which attest to the sacred nature of the place. The name of Jesus appears several times and Peter\u2019s name occurs at least twice. Based on this evidence, there can be little doubt that the archaeologists have found Peter\u2019s house at Capernaum \u2014 the very house that Jesus visited and the house where He performed a miracle.<\/p>\n
In concluding this brief survey of archaeological findings in the Holy Land, I would like to mention a recent, accidental, find in an out-of-the-way place which I had the privilege to visit while I was in Israel. The discovery concerns ancient manuscripts found in 1978 at St. Catherine\u2019s Monastery in the southern Sinai. St. Catherine\u2019s has existed continuously since it was built by the Roman emperor Justinian in the sixth century. Because of the desert conditions there, materials which would normally deteriorate in a damp climate \u2014 paper, cloth, etc. \u2014 are preserved century after century. The monastery is famous for its collection of religious paintings spanning the centuries from its founding to the present day. Probably more important, however, are the ancient biblical manuscripts housed in the monastery library. The oldest complete manuscript of the New Testament, the Codex Sinaiticus dating to about A.D. 350, was found here in the middle of the last century.<\/p>\n
In 1978, while doing some renovations at the monastery, workmen broke into a previously unknown storage room and found forty-seven chests filled with ancient paintings and manuscripts. Evidently these were worn-out or damaged items that were thought to be too valuable to discard so they were stored in chests and eventually forgotten. Little information has been released about the find, but it has been reported that there are at least 3,000 items in the chests. Among them are missing pages of the Greek Old Testament part of Codex Sinaiticus, a Greek copy of Genesis dating <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 29<\/p>\n
St. Catherine\u2019s Monastery as seen from \u201cJebel Musa,\u201d Moses\u2019 Mountain, the traditional location of Mt. Sinai<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
to the late fourth century, and portions of the Gospel of Mark dating to the sixth century. We welcome such discoveries because, invariably, they demonstrate the accuracy and care with which our biblical manuscripts were copied and transmitted down through the centuries.<\/p>\n
In this short survey we have touched on only a few examples of how archaeology has confirmed and illuminated the pages of Holy Scripture. It is gratifying to know that in this \u201cage of science\u201d when people demand proof for any type of theory or proposal, that the science of archaeology continues to demonstrate the veracity of the events recorded in the Bible and the trustworthiness of our biblical documents. Thy word indeed is truth!<\/p>\n
He that believeth in Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God<\/i>.<\/p>\n
John 3:18<\/i><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 11:1 (Winter 1982) p. 30<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bryant G. Wood Archaeological discoveries in Bible lands over the past 150 years have remarkably verified the accuracy of the biblical record and the reliability of our biblical text. While doing some archaeological research in Israel in the Fall of 1981, I had the opportunity to examine some of these discoveries firsthand. In the pages … Continue reading “ARCHAEOLOGY
\n– CONFIRMING THE TRUTH”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14961\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}