Does archaeological evidence prove the historical accuracy of the bible?

Archaeology doesn't prove miracles,  but it supports the history recorded in the Bible. 

Hittites

It was long believed that the bible was in error when it spoke about the Hittites. But since the discovery of the Hittite library in Turkey in 1906 this is no longer the case.

Genesis 23:10-11

Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who entered at the gate of his city, saying, “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!

Jericho

Early in the 1900’s German excavators had learned that inhabitants lived between the outer and inner walls on the embankment. At the time Israel drew near to Jericho many Canaanites from the surrounding fields would have sought refuge inside the fortress swelling its inhabitants and defenders to perhaps several thousand. During the excavations of Jericho (1930-36) John Garstang found something so startling that a statement of what was found was prepared and signed by himself and two other members of the team. In reference to these findings, Garstang says, ‘As to the main fact, then, there remains no doubt: the walls fell outwards so completely that the attackers would be able to clamber up and over their ruins into the city.’ Why so unusual? Because the walls of cities do not fall outwards, they fall inwards. The inhabitants had prepared well for an attack and siege. They had numerous earthen vessels filled with grain found in the houses. The harvest time was about completed. 

Joshua 3:15 

The city’s water supply was a spring inside the walls which still flows today. This was verified by John Garstang in his excavation in the 1930s and later by Kenyon when they found many large jars full of grain in the Canaanite homes. The excavations showed evidence of fire debris on top of various items and this would be consistent with the account in Joshua 6:24,  “And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.” The storage jars full of grain that had been caught in the fiery destruction were found by both Garstang and Kenyon. For archaeology this was a special discovery because grain was valuable. It was a source of food and used as a commodity for bartering. Normally every conqueror would have plundered all the food and all usable materials from the conquered city.

Nazareth

The skeptic’s position: There is no archeological evidence that supports Nazareth being inhabited before the middle of the second century. The town didn’t exist in the first century, but was rather a necropolis (cemetery) that was later named Nazareth by Christians. Frank Zindler, editor of American Atheist Magazine, has asserted that Nazareth did not exist in the first century. His arguments include the following: No ancient historians or geographers mention Nazareth before the beginning of the fourth century AD. Nazareth is not mentioned in the OT, Talmud or Apocrypha. It does not appear in any early rabbinic literature. Nazareth is not included among the 45 cities of Galilee that were mentioned by Josephus (37AD-100AD). Nazareth is also missing from the 63 towns of Galilee mentioned in the Talmud.

Response: Jesus was born in Bethlehem but lived the vast majority of His life in Nazareth. It was also prophesied. Matthew 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” Historians Josephus and Origen do not mention Nazareth in their writings. They ignored writing about other towns of little significance as well. Scriptures confirm that it was a town of little importance. John 1:45-46 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

German archaeologists, Pfann and Voss show that there were permanent buildings there at the time at least dating to the 1st century. After the Jewish war with the Romans from AD 66-70 it was necessary to re-settle Jewish priests and their families. Such groups would only settle in towns without Gentile inhabitants. According to an inscription discovered in 1962 in Caesarea Maritima the priests of the order of Elkalir made their home in Nazareth.

Ninevah

Skeptics once believed Ninevah wasn’t a real city that the Assyrians were, in fact, not real people. But someone discovered a brick on the Tigris River and it had the name of Sargon on it which was one of Syria’s great kings. It was sent to a Paris museum and was declared a fraud. Not long afterward, Laird, the great Assyriologist, dug up the entire city with its temples and palaces. Inscriptions have confirmed the existence of Pontius Pilate, the high priest Caiaphas. An inscription found in 1993 in northern Israel at Tell-Dan and dated to c. 800 BC, for example, now provides the earliest extra-biblical confirmation for the existence of the house of David, that is, King David and his ruling dynasty.

Cited Sources: NKJ by God, American Atheist Magazine, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler, associates for Biblical Research, 31 East Frederick St., Suite 468, Walkersville MD 21793–82324, Kathleen M. Kenyon, Excavations at Jericho, 3:110, London, British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, 1981. Thomas A. Holland, ‘Jericho’, pp. 220–24 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Vol. 3, ed. Eric. M. Myers, New York, Oxford University Press, p. 223, 1997, Bryant G. Wood, ‘Archaeology Confirms: They Really Did Come A-Tumblin’ Down’, Creation Ex Nihilo 21(2):36–40, March–May 1999.

Tel Dan (“David”) Stela

This is a 9th Century B.C. inscription that furnished the first historical evidence of King David outside of the bible. It was discovered in 1993 at the site of Tel Dan in Northern Israel in an excavation directed by Israeli archaeologist Avraham Biran.

Cited Sources: BAR volume 35