the hebrew bible’s historicity is perhaps academia’s greatest puzzle. while the text chronicles events, it does not do so for historical purposes. portions of the bible focused on moral, ethical and theological messages. as such, the challenge is for academia to sort out what is history within the modern lens.
archeological finds have set time parameters. accepted artifacts has found dates upon which egypt interacted with a people called israel. outside references note kings as being from the house of david. with respect to the torah, a discovered silver amulet revealed the priestly blessing as the earliest writing from the scripture.
in sum, each significant find re-sets the timeline as to when events could have occurred.
as such, dr. scott stripling, in his now published article, may have found and created another important date within the timeline. the discovery of a lead curse tablet with early hebrew writing may be a game changer. as this find is connected with joshua- one of academia’s most controversial biblical figures, there will be much debate. many scholars accept that the conquest as described in the book of joshua did not happen. as such, jericho’s walls fantastically tumbling down by the shofar blasts is disputed.
mr. stripling and team in their article concluded that they found a lead curse tablet with an early form of hebrew writing. the document contained curses and the name of god. this would be the earliest mention of the god’s name, the one that starts with the letter yud, that is located in israel. if true, it would move backward in time by approximately 200 years, an israelite presence in the land of israel.
thus, for those outside of scholarship, such a finding which will disrupt the historically accepted timeline will evoke controversy and debate. recently, an embarrassing archeology moment occurred when a same ostracon- pottery shard- was left out and discovered. the piece had an enticing inscription upon it. it turned out to be bogus. as such, great discoveries must be subject to great scrutiny.
be well!!
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