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Israelite Alphabet May Have Been Found
Associated Press ^
| 11/09/04
Posted on 11/09/2005 5:11:58 PM PST by anymouse
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.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alphabet; archaeology; epigraphyandlanguage; factsintheground; factsontheground; godsgravesglyphs; hebrew; history; israel; israelites; jerusalem; language; letshavejerusalem; phoenician; rontappy; tappy; telzayit; zayit; zeitah
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Archaeology, history ping.
1
posted on
11/09/2005 5:11:59 PM PST
by
anymouse
To: anymouse
Did it read "Thou shalt not . .
2
posted on
11/09/2005 5:18:08 PM PST
by
BipolarBob
(I'm really BagdadBob under the witness protection program.)
To: anymouse
Does this put Judaism in a bit of a quandary?
The Jewish calendar presently starts at what Roman
calendars (presently Gregorian) call 3761 BC.
For Jews to celebrate this discovery as their roots,
it would seem that they need to officially acknowledge
that their former official year zero isn't.
3
posted on
11/09/2005 5:25:20 PM PST
by
Boundless
To: BipolarBob
Initial reports are that it starts out, "Why does it take four Philistines to trim a lamp?"
To: anymouse; blam; SunkenCiv; SJackson; Salem
5
posted on
11/09/2005 5:26:11 PM PST
by
Fiddlstix
(Tagline Repair Service. Let us fix those broken Taglines. Inquire within(Presented by TagLines R US))
To: BipolarBob
The direct translation was: "B-E S-U-R-E T-O D-R-I-N-K Y-O-U-R O-V-A-L-T-I-N-E...
To: anymouse
"This makes it very historically probable there were people in the 10th century (B.C.) who could write."Um, 1,000 BC is roughly King David's day. So it might interest them to know that there's a famous Jewish author who predates the 10th century by a good 400 years.
7
posted on
11/09/2005 5:38:13 PM PST
by
Shalom Israel
(Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.)
To: anymouse
WOW! I'm....speechless! Really?? That's incredible!! Who would have known?! I guess that now lends credibility to the torah. I mean I certainly wouldn't have known that - but, but, this is proof, really scientific proof, real archaeological proof. Why I think I may just become a believer of G-D now.
THE ALEPH-BEIS HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!!! HALLELUKAH!!!!
8
posted on
11/09/2005 5:49:16 PM PST
by
wedwo
To: andy58-in-nh
Actually I think it reads "C-A-N Y-O-U H-E-A-R M-E N-O-W ?"
9
posted on
11/09/2005 5:54:31 PM PST
by
pbear8
(France is guilty of regicide)
To: Boundless
What do you mean? They had writing 1000 - 1100 BCE!
10
posted on
11/09/2005 6:04:01 PM PST
by
the_daug
To: SunkenCiv; 1st-P-In-The-Pod; A Jovial Cad; A_Conservative_in_Cambridge; adam_az; af_vet_rr; ...
FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.
GGG ping
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
11
posted on
11/09/2005 6:08:20 PM PST
by
Alouette
(Gaza: Too small to be a country, too large to be an insane asylum (thanx: Pettigru).)
To: anymouse
why is this a big deal? The Mycenaeans had writing, and that was the 16th C. BC.
12
posted on
11/09/2005 6:09:45 PM PST
by
maro
To: the_daug
13
posted on
11/09/2005 6:10:01 PM PST
by
Right Wing Assault
("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
To: Boundless
Muslims will claim it never happened. They will claim they had an alphabet 15, 000 BC. Yeah, I know that was a bit before Mohammed was hatched.
14
posted on
11/09/2005 6:11:47 PM PST
by
Right Wing Assault
("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
To: NoCmpromiz; Darkchylde; ruoflaw
15
posted on
11/09/2005 6:12:18 PM PST
by
DJ MacWoW
(If you think you know what's coming next....You don't know Jack.)
To: Right Wing Assault
> Muslims will claim it never happened. They will claim
> they had an alphabet 15, 000 BC. Yeah, I know that was
> a bit before Mohammed was hatched.
So just what does Mohammed's Big Book of Mediterranean
Mythology have to say on the subject of cosmology?
And I'll bet it doesn't even mention the entire Westerm
Hemisphere.
To: Boundless
Why?
If the world was formed 5761 years ago, then why is it unreasonable for the earliest known Hebrew writting to be 3000 years old?
As for the discovery, it must have been more than a few words. Ancient Hebrew writting was quite similar to Phonecian. Both languages were quite similar in terms of grammar and lexicon.
The other explanation is that it includes the name of God.
17
posted on
11/09/2005 6:59:20 PM PST
by
rmlew
(Sedition and Treason are both crimes, not free speech.)
To: rmlew
I believe the translation was:
d-o-h-c-e m-e-h-s-a-h u-n-i-e-k-o-l-e m-e-h-s-a-h l-e-o-r-s-i-y a-m-e-h-s
(read right to left)
18
posted on
11/09/2005 7:10:13 PM PST
by
wedwo
To: Boundless
Does this put Judaism in a bit of a quandary? The Jewish calendar presently starts at what Roman calendars (presently Gregorian) call 3761 BC.
For Jews to celebrate this discovery as their roots, it would seem that they need to officially acknowledge that their former official year zero isn't.
Why should a people with the longest historical memory in human history (going back to 'Adam HaRi'shon hiself) be upset by what some atheist scientists are saying?
19
posted on
11/09/2005 7:17:15 PM PST
by
Zionist Conspirator
(Vehe'emin BeHaShem, vayachsheveha lo tzedaqah.)
To: wedwo
d-o-h-c-e m-e-h-s-a-h u-n-i-e-k-o-l-e m-e-h-s-a-h l-e-o-r-s-i-y a-m-e-h-sActually it is:
d-n-u-h-e-n-i-w-s i-z-a-n a s-i r-e-l-t-i-h
20
posted on
11/09/2005 7:20:17 PM PST
by
Lester Moore
(islam's allah is Satan and is NOT the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.)
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