Earliest Hebrew writing

by ARTiFactor on Jan. 10th, 2010
in Historic Perspectives

comments

Time to rethink when Bible was written

An inscription, written in ink on a pottery shard, found about 18 miles from Jerusalem, is believed to be the earliest example of Hebrew writing. Carbon dating places it in the 10th century BC (1,000 years older than the Dead Sea scrolls).

(Gershon Galil, University of Haifa) deciphered an inscription on a pottery shard discovered in the Elah valley dating from the 10th century BCE (the period of King David's reign), making it what is believed to be the earliest known Hebrew writing. Science Daily

What did it say?

English translation of the deciphered text:

you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an]
[and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and]
the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.

Your Comments, Thoughts, Questions, Ideas

J. Parkinson says:

A good contribution. Perhaps in time we may find that Moses invented the Hebrew/Canaanite alphabet half a millennium earlier still.

posted on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 7:27pm

theloveprophet says:

It's unfortunate that PaleoHebrew changed into the text that the Masoretes invented in the 7th century... It sucks to have no idea what this says...

Site Navigation