Israeli archaeologists digging at the supposed hometown of Goliath may have found the first post-biblical evidence of the story of David and Goliath in a small ceramic shard on which names similar to Goliath appear. Most likely part of a bowl, the rust-colored ceramic fragment was found during a decade-old dig in Tell es-Safi in southern Israel. Described in the Bible as "Gath of the Philistines," where Goliath lived, Tell es-Safi is one of the largest ancient ruin mounds (tells) in Israel, settled almost continuously from the 5th millennium B.C. The inscription, dating to the 10th or early 9th century B.C., is the oldest Philistine inscription yet found. It was written in archaic "Proto-Canaanite" letters and contains two non-Semitic names: "Alwt" and "Wlt." According to excavation director Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University in Israel, the two names are remarkably similar to the etymological Indo-European parallels of Goliath. "It can be suggested that in 10th-9th century Philistine Gath, names quite similar, and possibly identical, to Goliath were in use.

The chronological context from which the inscription was found is only about 100 years after the time of David, according to the standard biblical chronology," Maeir said in a statement. This appears to provide evidence that the biblical story of Goliath, killed by the Hebrew shepherd boy David with a sling, reflects the cultural reality of the time, Maeir said.

View: Full Article | Source: Discovery Channel

quite interesting...

I don't see how finding a fragment of a bowl proves that a bible figure existed... but hey, goliath could have existed, just not the same giant-goliath thats in the bible. just a normal sized goliath.

Surely all it means is that whoever wrote the story used a real name for Goliath, rather than a totally made up name?

It's like saying Harry Potter must have existed because a gravestone bearing the name Harold Potter has been found.....

haha, its like if someone found the name 'jesus' they'd think it was the bible-jesus, they never think that jesus was qute a common name back in the days of the proposed bible-jesus lived.

it wasn't really that of a common name back then, that's where goliath lived back then, and he had sooooo many special things with him because he was so strong and huge, most likely it's him

That's really cool.

That really isnt evidence ... it just shows that the setting for the story existed , which really doesnt mean anything . Calling this evidence for the story of david and goliath is somewhat misleading .

Beyond that , it really isnt that interesting .

what if Goliath was a giant robot that was defeated by David?....i think thats how it happened...

makes more sense than then the normal story

Wasn't Goliath supposed to be 9ft to 10 ft? The tallest recorded man to have existed is Robert Wadlow and he was 8.92ft (2.72m) before he died, and he was still growing (age 21-22)! So it could be likely that a 9ft man was battling against jews thousands of years ago.

"2Sm:21:18: And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the Giant. Chr:20:4: And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued. 1Chr:20:5: And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver's beam. 1Chr:20:6: And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot and he also was the son of the giant. 1Chr:20:7: But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him. 1Chr:20:8: These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants. 1Chr:21:1: And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel."

"1Sm:17:4: And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 1Sm:17:5: And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 1Sm:17:6: And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 1Sm:17:7: And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him."

Goliath my friends, descended from the nephilim line.

Web site info:
http://www.earth-history.com/Earth-05.htm

Scroll down to almost the bottom of the page to find these paragraphs.

interesting.

This is from the article and I think that the professional (Dr Mykytiuk) said it much better than I can. Folks, once again, this is proof of nothing.

Solofront, That was a great web site! I enjoyed it!