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.
If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
Naaa, it said, "Kilroy was here".
Bingo. It's not looking really good at the moment for the Muslims, is it.
Not at all. 10th century BCE, as others have pointed out, is the time of David. This is perfectly inline with Jewish history. King David conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites and made it his capital.
Minoan and its offspring, Mycenaean script, was not an alphabet.
thanks for the pings, but alas...
A Is for Ancient, Describing an Alphabet Found Near Jerusalem
New York Times | 11/9/05 | John Noble Wilford
Posted on 11/08/2005 8:48:19 PM PST by saquin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1518542/posts
I will add it to the GGG catalog though.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Who is "celebrating" this discovery as the roots of Judaism? I didn't get that from the article - I got that this is merely the discovery of some of the earliest Hebrew writing that has been found to date. That doesn't state or imply that Judaism started then, and even if it did, anyone even remotely familiar with the Bible knows that the Jewish calendar starts with the creation of the world, not with Abraham's birth or with G-d's giving the Torah to Moses.
FYI, Abraham wasn't present at the Creation, and there was a lot of history between then and Abraham's birth (almost exactly 2,000 years), plus many hundreds of years between his birth and the Exodus (roughly 500), and another few hundred years (300 or so) between the Exodus and David's conquest of Jerusalem circa 1000 BCE.
Since Islam was invented by Mohammad around the 7th century that is a given but folks need to be reminded of who was where first.
Just got back Bought some ancient coins ... stamped 2500 BCE. Such a deal!
|
|
|||
Gods |
Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. |
||
|
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.