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2,700-year-old Hebrew inscription discovered


docyabut2

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An archaeological dig in the City of David, an ancient site in Jerusalem, uncovered shards of pottery, clay lamps, figurines and a ceramic bowl with a 2,700-year-old inscription in ancient Hebrew, according to new research.

A layer of artifacts was found during a recent excavation of an area known as Gihon Spring, which was the main source of water for the City of David. The ceramic bowl, with its partially preserved inscription on the rim, likely dates back to about 600 B.C. to 700 B.C., said lead researcher Joe Uziel, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The inscription is likely the latter part of the name of an individual from the seventh century B.C., the researchers said. While Uziel and his colleagues are investigating the significance of the ancient inscription including possible links to the Bible the researchers say the meaning of the engraving is unknown so far.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.c...s#ixzz2cej8pdHq

Edited by Still Waters
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Maybe they'll find more evidence to substantiate their conjectures. Be interesting if they do.

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I love reading stuff life that its so interesting to know whats out there. Buried, lost in time =(

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Obviously fake! If it's that old it couldn't be Hebrew, after all...none were around, right?

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Obviously fake! If it's that old it couldn't be Hebrew, after all...none were around, right?

???

700 years before Christ - that's be Disapora-era wouldn't it? Hebrews in Babylon etc.

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The assertion the inscription is 2700 years old seems extremely tenuous to me.

First, there is only a partial inscription, which the archaeologist links to a biblical figure believed to have lived at a certain time. That linking is entirely speculative and based on the inscription being complete as assumed, and the name being unique enough to be linked to that biblical figure. And, that the artifact was not inscribed with that name as an already historical figure, rather than the inscription being contemporaneous.

Why is nothing mentioned about the rest of the "layer of artifacts" and what time period they are assumed to have originated in?

This is why I am skeptical about much of what the IAA claim regarding discoveries in the Levant, as being State-backed they have political motivations to make claims consistent with Israel's claims of legitimacy based on religious scriptures.

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This is not inconceivable. The Hebrews probably did possess at least a small kingdom by the seventh century BCE, so a date of 700 BCE for the possible name on a pot is not unrealistic. Consider the important site of Ketef Hinnom, where excavations unearthed silver amulets bearing blessings from Yahweh that would later appear in the Old Testament in the book of Numbers. These amulets date to the late seventh century BCE and still mark the oldest-known biblical material to date.

With respect to my UM friends who might disagree with me in this matter, Hebrew certainly was an extent Semitic dialect by 700 BCE. This date marks the period of Iron Age II, by which time the more powerful northern state of Israel was in place and the lesser state of Judah, to the south, would be in existence. This is not to be confused with biblical lore, which intimates that Jerusalem ruled a vast kingdom, which it decidedly did not. Reality is reality, but a vessel with a Hebrew name that can be dated to around 700 BCE is plausible.

What bugs me to no end is the exaggerations these archaeologists are tossing at us willy-nilly. It's the classic mistake of hoping (forcing?) the evidence will fit an agenda rather than allowing the evidence to guide research. Suggesting that the fragmented name might in fact be someone famous in biblical lore is quite a grandiose stretch of the imagination.

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???

700 years before Christ - that's be Disapora-era wouldn't it? Hebrews in Babylon etc.

The first Diaspora was set in motion by the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem, in 586 BCE (if memory serves). This is when a great many residents of Jerusalem, especially craftsmen and the elite, were relocated to Babylon.

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This is not inconceivable. The Hebrews probably did possess at least a small kingdom by the seventh century BCE, so a date of 700 BCE for the possible name on a pot is not unrealistic. Consider the important site of Ketef Hinnom, where excavations unearthed silver amulets bearing blessings from Yahweh that would later appear in the Old Testament in the book of Numbers. These amulets date to the late seventh century BCE and still mark the oldest-known biblical material to date.

With respect to my UM friends who might disagree with me in this matter, Hebrew certainly was an extent Semitic dialect by 700 BCE. This date marks the period of Iron Age II, by which time the more powerful northern state of Israel was in place and the lesser state of Judah, to the south, would be in existence. This is not to be confused with biblical lore, which intimates that Jerusalem ruled a vast kingdom, which it decidedly did not. Reality is reality, but a vessel with a Hebrew name that can be dated to around 700 BCE is plausible.

What bugs me to no end is the exaggerations these archaeologists are tossing at us willy-nilly. It's the classic mistake of hoping (forcing?) the evidence will fit an agenda rather than allowing the evidence to guide research. Suggesting that the fragmented name might in fact be someone famous in biblical lore is quite a grandiose stretch of the imagination.

700 BC is perfectly verosimile. From all indications we have there was some kind of proto-Jewish culture at that point. But most likely they were cults only practiced by the upper elite, the plebs was much more in tune with the Assyrian cults until after the Babylonian exile though.

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???

700 years before Christ - that's be Disapora-era wouldn't it? Hebrews in Babylon etc.

No, that was the time when the Assyrians invaded and permanently occupied Samaria. Judea was unaffected save for the influx of refuges. Within a decade J'lem went from a two cow capital to an actual metropolis at that time. Judea was of no interest for them because it neither had needed resources nor enough population to be bothered with, besides being heavily controlled by Egypt at the time (and the last thing the Assyrians wanted is problems with the Pharaoh.) 200 years later that changed a bit and Judea also fell victim to the Assyrian hunger for conquest.

The involuntary result of that was a pretty highly defined Judaism during and after the Assyrian occupation among those dragged to Babylon.

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This is not inconceivable. The Hebrews probably did possess at least a small kingdom by the seventh century BCE, so a date of 700 BCE for the possible name on a pot is not unrealistic.

I don't disagree with any particular of your post, kmt, but I do take issue with the IAA's labelling of this particular piece as being of that age based on such flimsy evidence. It might, in fact, end up being of that age - but far more rigorous tests will have to be done to be able to make that claim as anything more than pure speculation.

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