Scientists have found evidence that appears to confirm the Bible’s first ever man and woman ‘actually existed’.

The Bible’s Book of Genesis is a creation myth that describes how humankind was created by God.

The story documents how Adam and Eve were made from dust, with Adam being created on the sixth day, going on to make Eve from one of his ribs.

The duo lived in the Garden of Eden – up until Eve caved into eating forbidden fruit which saw them banished from paradise and forced into a world of good and evil.

The Book of Genesis says humankind was created with Adam and Eve (Getty Images)

While the biblical story is believed by Christians to present the start of human life on Earth, others have found the story difficult to believe.

Initially, science found ancestors who passed on the male Y chromosomes and female mitochondrial DNA lived tens of thousands of years apart.

However, scientists have now found evidence that suggests all humans alive today do come from the same ancestor.

The ‘Mitochondrial Eve’, a type of genetic material passed from moms to their children, can supposedly be traced in all of our DNA.

Geneticists traced this DNA to figure out when the lineage started, and found it was around 200,000 years ago.

‘Mitochondrial Eve’ lives in all of our DNA (Getty Images)

And researchers at the University of Sassari in Italy suggest Adam lived 180,000 to 200,000 years ago through similar studies to the Y-chromosome – placing the pair at around the same time in history.

Dr Joshua Swamidass, a biologist from Washington University, has argued that humanity could’ve sparked from a single couple, as the evidence of the Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam appears to show.

Dr Swamidass wrote in an article published in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith: “Many individuals are each individually ancestors of ‘all the living’.

“All humans alive descend from each of these universal ancestors. The same can be said for all alive in AD 1, or all alive when recorded history begins.

“Two of them could be a particular couple, named Adam and Eve in scripture, from whom we all descend.”

Scientists say Adam and Eve weren’t the first kind of human species on Earth (Getty Images)

While the doc didn’t exactly say Adam and Eve were the sole parents of humankind, the theory of evolution doesn’t rule out their existence either, The Daily Mail reports.

Yet making the Biblical story fit through the lens of science requires abandoning much of the original story, such as the belief that God made Adam and Eve in the first place – and if our ancestors were human beings.

As Dr Swamidass notes, Homo Sapiens were not the first humans on Earth. Consider that there were other human species such as Homo habilis who lived around 1.9 to 1.9 million years ago.

Still, some scientists now also believe Eden could be a real location where civilisation began.

Archaeologists have pinpointed the Bible’s precise description of Eden could have actually been the historical Mesopotamia, what is known today as eastern Syria, northwest Turkey and a large chunk of Iraq, reports the Daily Star.

Professor Eric Cline, a classical and biblical archaeologist from George Washington University argued in his book, From Eden to Exile, that the evidence aligns with the scriptures.

He wrote: “This makes some sense from a textual point of view.

“Not only does the biblical account say that the garden lay ‘in the east’, meaning to the east of Israel, but it also mentions the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in connection with the Garden of Eden.”

However, some scientists believe the Kalahari Desert in Africa is the ‘ancestral homeland of all humans alive today’.

Scientists and archaeologists have revealed where Jesus was born – and they say it’s unlikely it was Bethlehem.

With Christmas eve and the big day quickly approaching, you might be preparing for Midnight Mass or some carolling around the Christmas tree as we commemorate the story of Jesus‘ birth.

But there are some historical inaccuracies in our modern adaptations of nativity plays and carols as experts say, while Jesus was definitely born on Christmas Day, it’s unlikely little donkey trekked the distance to Bethlehem.

The shepherds and the manger were probably added to the story later on (Getty)

In fact, the shepherds, three wise men and the manager were probably introduced into the story later on as experts say Christians tied Jesus’ story into an ancient Jewish prophecy.

And now some historians and archaeologists also believe the son of God wasn’t born in Bethlehem but in another town some 68 miles (175km) in the small town of Nazareth – or in another Bethlehem just four miles (7km) away from Mary and David’s hometown.

Scientists and scholars say the best evidence that Bethlehem of Judea is Jesus’ real birthplace actually comes from the Bible, particularly as any physical evidence from 2,000 years ago is hard to come by.

Dr Clyde Billington, a biblical scholar and executive director of the Institute for Biblical Archaeology, said to The Daily Mail: “Bethlehem in Judea is mentioned in Matthew, Luke, and John as the birthplace of Christ.”

A flaw in this is that these sources are obviously quite old, with the Gospel of Matthew believed to have been written around 80 AD – some 50 years after Jesus died.

Christians often make the pilgrimage to Bethlehem (Getty)

Still, the Bible is as close as we’re ever going to get when mapping out Jesus’ life and the scholar says he is ‘convinced’ Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.

Professor Helen Bond, an expert on Christian history at the University of Edinburgh, also pointed out the earliest gospel, Mark, ‘says nothing’ about Jesus’ birth and the apostle, Paul, who knew Jesus’ brothers, also makes no mention of Bethlehem.

Archaeologists have also determined the location makes sense, having found evidence that Bethlehem of Judea existed and dates to Jesus’ time.

Researchers made a major breakthrough in 1969 as they uncovered pieces of pottery dating back to the Iron Age around 1000 to 586 BC in Bethlehem.

Another excavation carried out by Dr Joan Taylor of King’s College London and Dr Shimon Gibson of the University of North Carolina and Charlotte near the Church of Nativity in 2016, also made some interesting discoveries as they found pots and artefacts that ‘without a doubt’ dated to Jesus’ time.

The theory is that Mary wouldn’t have trekked for miles to give birth (Getty)

But some such as Aviram Oshri, an archaeologist from the Israel Antiquities Authority, who spent more than 10 years excavating an ancient site, believes Jesus was born in a small village called Bethlehem of Galilee, more than 60 miles (100km) from Bethlehem of Judea and nearer to Nazareth.

This is because he believes a heavily pregnant Mary wouldn’t have travelled the 175km journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem of Judea.

That, and during his excavation, he found a huge Byzantine-era church and a building that could’ve been a guest house or inn – which is close to the Biblical story we’re all familiar with.

Yet, others say Oshri’s theory is lacking evidence as Dr Billington says there is not a ‘single ancient source’ that would place Jesus’ birth in that town.

Others say it’s most likely Jesus was born in Nazareth, as we know from Gospels that Mary and Joseph lived in a village there and that’s where Jesus grew up.

Although Nazareth had no prophetic claim, the village is mentioned consistently throughout the Bible.

Austrian archaeologists have revealed details of an ‘sensational’ discovery made at one of the holiest sites in Christianity.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century institution nestled within the Old City of Jerusalem.

The site is considered one of the holiest in the world as Christians believe the area is where Jesus was buried and later rose from the dead.

Experts have recently flocked to the church following the news that construction workers were awestruck upon turning over a chunk of seemingly worthless marble.

A graffiti-covered stone has caught the world’s attention. (Amit Re’em/Israel Antiquities Authority)

The stone, which had been sitting in a publicly accessible corridor near the rear of the building, measured eight feet long and five feet wide.

On the side facing the public, the marble was covered in graffiti.

However, when the stone was flipped around, revellers saw that the other side was decorated with ribbon ornaments and distinct markings.

Upon further inspection, it was declared that these unique decorations were made using a special production technique called ‘Cosmatesque’.

The art form was once practised by guild masters in papal Rome and saw large surfaces being covered with smaller quantities of precious marble.

Excitingly, archaeologists have since identified the slab as the front panel of the altar consecrated in 1149.

Historians previously believed the largest-known medieval altar, used by Crusaders in the Middle Ages, had been destroyed in a fire in 1808 and thus lost for decades.

“For historians, this find is a sensation in several respects,” wrote the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW).

While remarking on the brilliance of the find, researchers also questioned how the important slab had ‘remained hidden for so long in such an intensively researched building as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre’.

Speaking about the significance of the altar Ilya Berkovich, historian at the Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, said: “We know of pilgrim accounts from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries about a magnificent marble altar in Jerusalem.

The altar was consecrated in 1149. (Shai Halevi/Israel Antiquities Authority)

“In 1808, there was a major fire in the Romanesque part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” said Berkovich. “Since then, the Crusaders’ altar was lost – at least that’s what people thought for a long time.”

This discovery, hailed as ‘sensational’ by the OeAW, is thought to have been created with the Pope’s blessing.

Moreover, they write that it was commissioned to honor Christianity’s holiest church as Cosmatesque art was a cherished status symbol.

“The Pope thus paid tribute to the holiest church in Christianity,” Berkovich said.

Following the recent discovery of the altar, the expert and his team hope to research further and dive into the papal archives to reveal more details about the stone.

They also want to uncover the Cosmatesque master who created the artwork.

Archaeologists have finally shared their surprising spoils uncovered from a dig in Zanoah – a moshav featured in the Old Testament of the Bible.

In the Book of Nehemiah, Zanoah is mentioned as one of the towns resettled by Jewish exiles who were returning from Babylonian captivity.

It’s said the returning residents, who followed Moses out of Egypt and across the Red Sea in the Bible’s Book of Exodus, were the descendants of past village dwellers and that Zanoah was situated in the Promised Land, also known as Canaan.

Pottery bearing a King’s impression has been found at Zanoah. (Israel Antiques Authority)

Back in 2019, a team of experts headed to the famed Jewish settlement and later wrote up their findings in Hadashot Arkheologiyot.

The latter is a popular journal used to document preliminary reports and archaeological findings across Israel.

Writing in March 2024, the team revealed the successful excavation at Zanoah had originally taken place during July and August 2019 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Funded by the Israel Electric Corporation, the survey saw the archaeologists salvage a clay jar handle ‘bearing a lmlk stamp impression’.

It’s thought that the pottery item originated from the late Iron Age and that it had been ‘fired at a high temperature and [was] of excellent quality’.

The seventh-century BCE item was discovered alongside other handles bearing similar impressions as well as a decorated cosmetic bowl made of white limestone.

More finds have since been identified as being created in the Early Byzantine era and the second year of the First Jewish Revolt.

Interestingly, one of the recovered artefacts bore a stamp on its handle that read ‘of the King’.

Experts believe that this was to honor King Hezekiah’s reign in Judah in 701 BC.

Hezekiah’s life featured in the Book of 2 Kings while in the Book of 2 Chronicles it’s said the king worked to reopen the Temple of Solomon.

The excavation area has ‘potential significance’ according to scholars. (Israel Antiques Authority)

The latter is more commonly referred to as ‘the First Temple’ and religious believers claim the hub was built on the spot where God created Adam.

Moreover, Hezekiah is also accused of smashing a bronze snake statue that Moses was commanded by God to create.

So, does the discovery of these artefacts confirm the Exodus of Israelites leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea with Moses?

Well, not quite, but it does confirm that Zanoah was an important site ‘and highlights [its] potential significance’ in potentially proving the Bible as gospel in the future.

Furthermore, dig director Ya’akov Billig claimed that the uncovered artefacts show that farming activities were conducted on the slope of the village.

“While it is likely that some of the finds originated in the ruin and were subsequently washed down the slope over the years, the majority of the finds, especially those dating from the early Byzantine period, relate to farming activities conducted on the hill slopes,” wrote dig director Ya’akov Billig.

“The large quantity of finds indicates the intensity of the site and highlights the potential significance of one of the lesser-known tales in the Judean Shephelah.”