Has the Biblical Goliath Been Found?

IMRA ^ | November 10, 2005

[SJackson]

CONTACT: Elana Oberlander, Office of the Spokesman, Bar-Ilan University

Has the Biblical Goliath Been Found?

Bar-Ilan University Archaeologists Unearth Earliest Philistine Inscription in Which Names Similar to Goliath Appear

Ramat Gan - A very small ceramic sherd unearthed by Bar-Ilan University archaeologists digging at Tell es-Safi, the biblical city "Gath of the Philistines", may hold a very large clue into the history of the well-known biblical figure Goliath. The sherd, which contains the earliest known Philistine inscription ever to be discovered, mentions two names that are remarkably similar to the name "Goliath". Tell es-Safi/Gath is located in the southern coastal plain of Israel, approximately halfway between Ashkelon and Jerusalem.

The discovery is of particular importance since the Bible attributes Gath as the home town of Goliath. "Gath of the Philistines," was one of the major cities of the Philistines, the well-known arch-enemies of the Israelites in the biblical text. The archaeological find may also be seen as the first clear extra-biblical evidence that the well-known biblical story of the battle between David and Goliath (and, in particular, the very existence of a figure such as Goliath during the biblical period) may be more than just a legend, according to Prof. Aren Maeir, Chairman of Bar-Ilan University's Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, who has been directing the excavations since they began in 1996. Prof. Maeir will present his findings next week at the conference of the American Schools of Oriental Research in the U.S. city of Philadelphia.

Other recent findings uncovered at the recent excavations at Tell es-Safi include a large assortment of objects of various types which are linked to Philistine culture. Additional remains relating to the siege system constructed by Hazael, King of Aram Damascus around 800 BCE, were revealed, along with extensive evidence of the subsequent capture and destruction of the city by Hazael, as mentioned in Second Kings 12:18. Remains of the Crusader period fortress, Blanche Garde, built after the first Crusade in the mid-twelfth century CE, were also discovered.

Written in archaic "Proto-Canaanite" letters, the inscription found on the sherd, dating to the 10th or early 9th century BCE, contains two non-Semitic names: Alwt and Wlt. Most scholars believe the name Goliath, of non-Semitic origin, is etymologically related to various Indo-European names, such as the Lydian name Aylattes. Following intense examination of the inscription, Prof. Maeir (along with his colleagues Prof. Aaron Demsky, an expert in epigraphy at Bar-Ilan University, and Dr. Stefan Wimmer, of Munich University) has concluded that the two names which appear in the inscription are remarkably similar to the etymological 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," says Prof. Maeir. "This chronological context from which the inscription was found is only about 100 years after the time of David according to the standard biblical chronology. Thus, this appears to provide evidence that the biblical story of Goliath is, in fact, based on a clear cultural realia from, more or less, the time which is depicted in the biblical text, and recent attempts to claim that Goliath can only be understood in the context of later phases of the Iron Age are unwarranted."

While the letters are Semitic, the names appearing in the inscription are Indo-European (the linguistic family of ancient Greek and related languages). It is assumed by most scholars that the Philistines migrated to the Levant from somewhere in the Aegean region. On their arrival, they brought with them assorted Aegean cultural facets. With time, their culture became more and more effected by the local cultures, slowly incorporating local elements. This inscription, with Semitic script and Indo-European names, is among the earliest hard evidence showing this process.

The Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project is a long-term investigation aimed at studying the archaeology and history of one of the most important sites in Israel. Tell es-Safi is one of the largest tells (ancient ruin mounds) in Israel and was settled almost continuously from the 5th millennium BCE until modern times.

Continuous excavations of the site are planned for at least the next decade.

[Lijahsbubbe]

If they unearth a skeletal hand with six fingers or a foot with six toes, I'd say they found Goliath.

That's just creepy....

[Jay Howard Smith]

BCE = Before the Christian Era CE = Christian Era

Good.....I was thingking CE=Christ's Era.....BCE=Before Christ's Era...!

[Thinkin' Gal]

I'll be more interesting if they find a giant's skull with a fractured forehead.

Kind of like a...

rift valley
n.

A deep fracture or break, about 25-50 km (15-30 miles) wide, in the earth's crust, creating an elongated valley bounded by two or more faults.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/r/r0242800.html

There's this rift map here:

Rotate the map 90 deg and zoom out:

Crown = Sinai
Hair = Israel, Lebanon
Jordan = head and long neck (cf. Anakim = "long necked", aka giants)
Iraq = body
Baghdad/Babylon = heart
Kuwait = foot
Syria = wing?

In the normal position, of course, this giant Sphinx is prostrating toward Mecca. Note the rock (Petra) in his forehead, near the fracture in the skull:

No wonder it's called the Red Sea. That gash had to have left a mess. `:-]

1 Samuel 17:48-51

48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

I wonder how sharp the sword was...

Note also the latitude markings on the first map. The Sphinx in Giza is on the 30th parallel and faces east... toward its own lionine image marked on the ground... The eye, for example, is marked here at 30N 36E .

The 30th parallel cuts through Ras an Naqb, the "head (chief point, summit) of the pass". You can get a sense of word development by comparing Strong's Hebrew #7218 (rosh, head) and #5344 (naqab, pierce through).

http://www.blueletterbible.org/search.html#strongs

[Lancey Howard]

That's the work of the scumbags of political correctness and secular socialism (the Democrats). I'm not sure, but I bet you can look for it in all the government schools real soon if it's not already in place.

[Peelod]

Before Christ Existed

When was that????

[dsc]

"as they will now do in the EU"

Thereby spawning another acronym: FTEU.

[azhenfud]

2 Samuel Ch. 21:20
And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Ho, nully! Once I got done chuckling about what I read as hobbit horses, I read the rest of your post. Pretty interesting - I don't believe I had heard or thought of that angle before. Something to ponder...

[null and void]

Yeah. I expect we'll know soon enough.

[night reader]

What's with this 'BCE' and 'CE' dating crap?

'BCE' is "Before the Christian Era."
'CE' is the "Christian Era" or at least that's how I interpret it.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Thanks for the reference.

I remember when I first became aware of the six finger reference.

I was discussing this with friends and someone said that the six fingers were the reason that Native Americans held up their hands upon greeting, to check the digits.

Don't know that they really ever did that, or if the gesture was invented by TV, but I found it worth a "hmmm"....

[SunkenCiv]

Ethnic Groups in Philistia
Giving Goliath His Due: New Archaeological Light on the Philistines | Neal Bierling
Posted on 09/08/2004 10:41:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1210752/posts

[IncredibleHulk]

What's with this 'BCE' and 'CE' dating crap?

Not everyone is Christian.

[Maury]

I'm not European, but I use the metric system! ;)

I know, not the same thing, but similar. ;)

I see your point, but for the life of me there HAS to be some other scale for measuring SOMETHING that is related to some other religion that we all use as a standard.

is time the only one?

And don't take my pos the wrong way, I’m no religious zealot, I just can’t stand these attacks on things that have been the standard for years, but now people try to change them because they just make mention of a religion; be it Christianity or whatever.

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

Epistles: A Thousand Words: Plate with the Battle of David and Goliath