In what may prove to be a groundbreaking discovery, Professor Gershon Galil of the department of biblical studies at the University of Haifa, has managed to decipher an inscription on a pottery shard which dates back to the 10th century BCE.
The archaeological find was made in the Elah valley where David famously slew the Philistine giant Goliath thereby ending the quest to conquer the tribe of Judah. [1 Samuel 17:4-51]
This find may well herald a breakthrough in the research of Hebrew scriptures and shed new light on the period in which the Bible was written. This inscription was written during the reign of King David and is undoubtedly in Hebrew. This can be seen from the use of vowels and reference to history peculiar to Hebrew and the Jewish people.
What makes it so significant is that it shows that some of the biblical scriptures were written hundreds of years before what is now believed to have been the date they were composed and the fact that the kingdom of Israel was already in existence.
Once the deciphering is accepted it will be confirmed as the oldest Hebrew inscription to be found anywhere.
In addition it will stand as proof against those who would not have recognizsd the possibility that the Bible or parts of it could have been written during this ancient period.
Prof Galil notes that the inscription was discovered in a provincial town in Judea. He explains that if there were scribes in the periphery, it can be assumed that those inhabiting the central region and Jerusalem were even more proficient writers.
“It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that during the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes in Israel who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies such as the books of Judges and Samuel.” He adds that the complexity of the text discovered in Khirbet Qeiyafa, along with the impressive fortifications revealed at the site, refute the claims denying the existence of the kingdom of Israel at that time.
The shard was found near the gate of a site known as Elah Fortress, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) west of Jerusalem, in the valley where the battle between David and Goliath is said to have taken place.
It has five lines of text in the proto-Canaanite script that was used by Hebrews, Philistines and others in the region.
English translation :
1′ you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
2′ Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an]
3′ [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and]
4′ the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
5′ Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.
Galil points out that this demonstrates an awareness of strangers as well as the social conscience they possessed. It compares in its content to biblical scriptures (Isaiah 1:17, Psalms 72:3, Exodus 23:3 and others) but it is clear that it is not copied from any biblical text.
Carbon dating has shown the inscription dates back to the 10th century BC, making it about 1 000 years older than the Dead Sea scrolls.
Don’t let us catch anyone saying we don’t play our part in trying to teach those matriculants some archaeology and history.
Now all we need are those thieves in Mpumalanga to steal the science and maths papers for distribution nationally and the matric results will improve no end.
soon there’s going to be proof that gilgamesh and noah were on the same boat. i’m missing your point…
@mundundu, I am ashamed that a man of your intelligence and stature would comment such.
Like all history it is important to prove that when it is written or said, it was so.
This is why Africa has not improved that much since prehistory. The Sages have a verbal history that is open to distortortion and myth. It can also be used to misconstrue even to suit a political programme.
The import of the written record helps historians compare apples with apples.
There is of coarse another benefit inasmuch that the older or numbers script found make it easier to determine if the version readily available have been faithfully recorded.
so is this now going to be used a further justification for the Zi*#@st occupation? I have heard of, “clutching at straws”…I guess this is, “clutching at shards”
Dear Mr Trapido
As Pope Pius X11 said’
” Spiritiually we are all Semites”
Thank you for you’re blog.
This is a truly wonderful find but don’t expect the Arabs to accept any of it. They will continue to claim that Israel should not exist as it had no place in history – just as the holocaust never happened either.
I am sure that if the Israeli’s were allowed to dig on the Temple Mount where Solomon’s temple was, they will find proof that it was there.
Mount Sinai which some people place in Southern Israel, is actually in Southern Saudi Arabia and there too the site is sealed off in case the truth be told.
Mbeki did not invent denialism, the Arabs did.
So how does that enhance our lives ? Who cares
@ mundundu
Exactly (and LOL), except for historical and archaelogical purposes. The age of the texts are of no significance whatsoever; the mythological content is.
Interesting archaeological scrap. Not sure about the puchline jump to Mpumalanga—- subliminal perception of the failings of Philistines and the valley of David and Goliath not sure about the continuum of a struggle with the ‘other’ going on in the brain of the writer here. Archaeology of Knowledge and a bit of Foucault needed here to unfathom Traps at this point. Still living on the history of the old testament not good, not even god would, its very interesting but not about the present unless we pretend. Mpumalanga and the results are just plain depressing to all especially the kids who wait for freedom to pay off in the pockets of deprivation. My names David, it means the ‘beloved” but in the old testament King David was manipulative and morally more reprehensible than any local politician when you take into account the story of the Hitite and David’s covetous ways. A great deal to be warned about in this book not a lot to live by.I hope to die without killing anybody I reckon even Goliath could have been pacified with the offer of a farm and some seeds. Identities we invent in the suburbs of traffic and people what are we doing with our minds why do you write this and why do I read it?
So now Palestine belongs to the Jews……hahaha. They are to good!!!!!!!!
What is really interesting is that the 10 commandments were not even written in Hebrew – but in a language that predates it.
It is my opinion that “Thou should not committ adultery” is incorrectly interpreted.
It does not jell with the culture of the Essenes.
Does “adultery” exist if neither partner is married?
The point that Trapido is alluding to, and puposefully failing to advertise, is that it further entrenches the right of modern Israel’s existence.
As a Jew, Trapido is an automatic supporter of Israel and his post is his version of a little ‘yay’. (oi vay)
wow. i have stature now. amazing. i guess this means i don’t need to state how i feel about the egregious spelling and grammar errors in comments subsequent to my last one…
hugh robinson …
um, the “intelligent design” people believe that man coexisted with the dinosaurs. seriously. [maybe that "big fish" in whose belly jonah hung out was a dinosaur instead of the whale that many people think it was...]
verbal-only histories don’t have a monopoly on being manipulated in, as you say, distortion and myth.
Prof Galil would perhaps have been well advised to read “The Invention of the Jewish People” by Shlomo Sand before making his sweeping claims.
The book demonstrates very clearly that most of what people think they know about Jewish history is a myth, from the kingdoms of David and Solomon, through the Romans’ exile of the Jews from Palestine, to the emergence of the Yiddish-speaking milieu of Eastern Europe by German Jews migrating eastwards to escape persecution.
The author debunks the widely held belief that the Bible can be relied on as a historical source, marshalling arguments from Biblical criticism and archaeology. Of course, this shouldn’t really be necessary at all in the twenty first century, but a surprising number of intelligent people think that the stories in the Bible of the Exodus, or the United Monarchy of David and Solomon, are grounded in history rather than in myth.
More important, he examines the historical evidence for the Romans’ exile of the Jews from their land, and finds it wanting. He shows the importance of conversions in the creation of large Jewish populations, both in the ancient world and in the middle ages – there are long treatments of the Jews of Southern Arabia, North Africa and Spain, and of course the Khazars.
A good, thought provoking read.
Hi Larry, I wouldn’t say that Trapido automatically supports Israel simply because he is Jewish. I know a number of Jews who are not Zionists. In any event, as you point out, this is a, “little yay” and as I would say, “it cluthces at historical straws…in this case historical shards”.
Cassiem, Let’s make a clear distinction between Jews and Zionists. They actually have nothing to do with one another. Judaism, like Islam, is a really cool religion. Zionism is a really uncool ideology that conveniently couples the religion of Judaism with the ideology of Zionism. Let’s remember that Jews lived all over the world (including Palestine) for thousands of years. Israel as a solely Jewish State is only just over 60 years old…a very young phenomenon.
Archeological finds of this kind are great as they help us to revise the myths about the past that we all use to rationalise how we currently exist.
The right of the modern state of Israel to exist is a very complex argument. It divides even the Jews themselves and worse when the argument becomes religious. Firstly there is no room to debate ancient Jewry but the more recent Jewry of Eastern Europe extraction does at the most leave room for debate.
The Arab-Zionist conflict is rooted in religion and intepretation of the scriptures not only of the Koran but the Old Testament. There are Jews who are still waiting for God to give Israel back to them as as is phophesied in the old testament and regard the present state of Israel not God’s will no matter what the confused Christian right says. They will tell you that Jews were always best related to in the Arab world. There has never been anti-semitism in Arab culture even in present day Iran and in Sadam Hussein’s Iraq. There was an understanding in Islam that Jews and Christians are people of the book and should not be harmed.
I find the New Testament liberal and forgiving zeitgeist of the inscription intriguing.
Leviticus and some of the other Old Testament shows a harsh and punitive God, which does not tie in well with this script. Even the Romans were terrified by the 12 tribes of Israel who were considered fractious, fratricidal and largely ungovernable except through despots like Herod
Steve, uh thanks, but not only Zionists support the State of Israel and its continued existence. The ideology of Zionism is that Israel should exist as it did in biblical times, on ‘eretz Israel’ which is the land stretching from the Mediteranean to the Jordan river, which solves the Palestinian problem once and for all.
And Cassim, Palestine would have been an established country if it had existed in the first place, prior to the establishment of modern day Israel. Laughing is harmless and I join you in this. You are also right – we are too good.