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'Oldest Hebrew writing found near J'lem'
Jerusalem Post ^ | 10-30-08

Posted on 10/30/2008 5:07:10 AM PDT by SJackson

An Israeli archaeologist digging at a hilltop south of Jerusalem believes a ceramic shard found in the ruins of an ancient town bears the oldest Hebrew inscription ever discovered, a find that could provide an important glimpse into the culture and language of the Holy Land at the time of the Bible.

The five lines of faded characters written 3,000 years ago, and the ruins of the fortified settlement where they were found, are indications that a powerful Israelite kingdom existed at the time of King David, says Yossi Garfinkel, the Hebrew University archaeologist in charge of the new dig at Hirbet Qeiyafa.

Other scholars are hesitant to embrace Garfinkel's interpretation of the finds, made public on Thursday. The discoveries are already being wielded in a vigorous and ongoing argument over whether the Bible's account of events and geography is meant to be taken literally.

Hirbet Qeiyafa sits near the city of Beit Shemesh in the Judean foothills, an area that was once the frontier between the hill-dwelling Israelites and their enemies, the coastal Philistines. The site overlooks the Elah Valley, said to be the scene of the slingshot showdown between David and the Philistine giant Goliath, and lies near the ruins of Goliath's hometown in the Philistine metropolis of Gath.

(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alphabet; epigraphyandlanguage; factsintheground; factsontheground; godsgravesglyphs; hebrew; hirbetqeiyafa; israel; jerusalem; khirbetqeiyafa; letshavejerusalem

1 posted on 10/30/2008 5:07:10 AM PDT by SJackson
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To: SJackson

These stories fascinate me. Thanks for posting! <3


2 posted on 10/30/2008 5:12:40 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

Had the Wakf found it, the shard would be in the garbage.

3 posted on 10/30/2008 5:23:32 AM PDT by SJackson (I don't believe that people should be able to own guns, BH Obama to John Lott)
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To: RushIsMyTeddyBear

I’d think the tablets of Moses would be older, although placed in the Arc and secreted away, they remain hidden today.


4 posted on 10/30/2008 5:29:12 AM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: SJackson
The shard is now kept in a university safe while philologists translate it, a task expected to take months. But several words have already been tentatively identified, including ones meaning "judge," "slave" and "king."

The missing words: DO NOT judge your KING or you'll be a SLAVE............

5 posted on 10/30/2008 5:30:09 AM PDT by Red Badger (My wallet is made out of depleted you-owe-mium........)
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To: SJackson
Finkelstein, who has not visited the dig but attended a presentation of the findings, warned against what he said was a "revival in the belief that what's written in the Bible is accurate like a newspaper." That style of archeology was favored by 19th century European diggers who trolled the Holy Land for physical traces of Biblical stories, their motivation and methods more romantic than scientific.

What harm is there in this kind of motivation? A lot more stuff ends up getting discovered, and the archaeological community as a whole can sort out the significance of the discoveries.

6 posted on 10/30/2008 5:47:51 AM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative (The Global Warming Heretic -- http://AGW-Heretic.blogspot.com)
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To: SJackson
Finkelstein... warned against what he said was a "revival in the belief that what's written in the Bible is accurate like a newspaper."

Considering the state of newspapers he should revise that.

7 posted on 10/30/2008 5:48:44 AM PDT by JohnBovenmyer (----{ I've voted!)
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To: Constitutionalist Conservative
Oh, and let's not talk about those who troll the Holy Land looking for evidence that the Bible did not record historical events accurately, their motivation and methods more cynical than scientific.
8 posted on 10/30/2008 5:50:56 AM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative (The Global Warming Heretic -- http://AGW-Heretic.blogspot.com)
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To: SunkenCiv

ggg ping


9 posted on 10/30/2008 6:35:44 AM PDT by Fractal Trader
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To: SunkenCiv

GGG alert


10 posted on 10/30/2008 7:39:44 AM PDT by dervish (Acorn,Ayers, Rezko,Wright,Farakhan,Khalidi. America wake up!)
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To: Fractal Trader; dervish; CholeraJoe; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
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Glyphs
Thanks Fractal Trader, dervish, and CholeraJoe.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

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11 posted on 10/30/2008 1:41:19 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______Profile finally updated Saturday, October 11, 2008 !!!)
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To: BibChr

Ping ibri sheni.


12 posted on 10/30/2008 4:05:19 PM PDT by Lurking Libertarian (Non sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege)
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To: Constitutionalist Conservative; JohnBovenmyer
What harm is there in this kind of motivation? A lot more stuff ends up getting discovered, and the archaeological community as a whole can sort out the significance of the discoveries.

I follow this stuff religiously (sorry could not resist). A magazine I subscribe to has Finkelstein and quite a few archaeologist in the Holy Land in it very frequently. Quite a few of them trash the Bible and sometimes believers (whether they are Christian or Jewish).

A few years ago, they published an article that lamented the fact that the interest in Biblical archeology is waning. What they were really lamenting was that the funding for their research was waning because they were trashing people's beliefs. Most believers want to hear about the Biblical lands in context to scripture. These guys set out to destroy scripture and wonder why nobody wants to hear about their radical views on Biblical lands.

13 posted on 10/30/2008 10:35:32 PM PDT by fatez ("If you're going through Hell, keep going." Winston Churchill)
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 GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach
Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution.

Khirbet Qeiyafa keyword, newest to oldest: < To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.


14 posted on 05/28/2012 2:23:12 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (FReepathon 2Q time -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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