[doctorzlo]

Ancient Israelite alphabet discovered!

Two lines of an alphabet have been found inscribed in a stone in Israel, offering what some scholars say is the most solid evidence yet that the ancient Israelites were literate as early as the 10th century B.C.

"This is very rare. This stone will be written about for many years to come," archaeologist Ron E. Tappy, a professor at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary who made the discovery, said Wednesday. "This makes it very historically probable there were people in the 10th century (B.C.) who could write."

Christopher Rollston, a professor of Semitic studies at Emmanuel School of Religion in Johnson City, Tenn., who was not involved in the find, said the writing is probably Phoenician or a transitional language between Phoenician and Hebrew.

"We have little epigraphic material from the 10th century in Israel, and so this substantially augments the material we have," he said.

The stone was found in July, on the final day of a five-week dig at Tel Zayit, about 30 miles south of Tel Aviv.

[LottiFurmann]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051111/...IyBHNlYwMxNjk2

Archaeologists digging at the purported biblical home of Goliath have unearthed a shard of pottery bearing an inscription of the Philistine's name, a find they claimed lends historical credence to the Bible's tale of David's battle with the giant.

While the discovery is not definitive evidence of Goliath's existence, it does support the Bible's depiction of life at the time the battle was supposed to have occurred, said Dr. Aren Maeir, a professor at Bar-Ilan University and director of the excavation.

"What this means is that at the time there were people there named Goliath," he said. "It shows us that David and Goliath's story reflects the cultural reality of the time." In the story, David slew Goliath with a slingshot.

Some scholars assert the story of David slaying the giant Goliath is a myth written down hundreds of years later. Maeir said finding the scraps lends historical credence to the biblical story.

The shard dates back to around 950 B.C., within 70 years of when biblical chronology asserts David squared off against Goliath, making it the oldest Philistine inscription ever found, the archaeologists said.

Scientists made the discovery at Tel es-Safi, a dig site in southern Israel thought to be to be the location of the Philistine city of Gath.

[PhillipHer]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...152891,00.html
Biblical palace found (?) near Old City

Evidence fits well with other archeological finds from the site. In new excavation, Mazar has discovered clay signet impression bearing name of Yehuchal Ben Shelemiah, noble of Judea from time of King Zedekiah mentioned by name in Jeremiah, evidence that four centuries after David, site was still important seat of Judean royalty
David Hazony

Editor's Note: Part 1 of this article discussed the background to a dramatic and potentially historic archeological finding by Eilat Mazar near the Old City of Jerusalem. Part 2 discusses what she found, and the implications it has for biblical archeology and theories about the historical accuracy of the Bible....