New inscription

[Mark]

Ancient Hebrew inscription from period of Kings of Judah found in Jerusalem dig
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
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A fragment of a limestone plaque bearing several letters of ancient Hebrew script from the period of the Kings of Judah nearly 3,000 years ago has been uncovered in an archeological excavation just outside the Old City of Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday.

The white stone fragment, which dates to the 8th Century BCE, was found two months ago in an ongoing dig in the ancient City of David south of the Old City walls near the Gihon Spring.

The plaque, which has been dated by the numerous pottery shards unearthed together with it as well as the shape of the Hebrew letters found on it, was discovered broken with two lines of writing on it, said Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, who directed the dig at the site.

The name preserved on the first line of the plaque, which is only partially discernible by its remaining Hebrew letters transliterated into English as 'kiah,' could either refer to the Biblical King Hezekiah or simply be common names used in Jerusalem at the time such as Hilkia or Amekiya, he said.

rest at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...=1238562926124

[inked]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...8iNjXazpoTO7gF

10th Century BCE - in the time of King David !!! Check it out. There's a really good picture of the pottery shard on which the writing is found.

If the Yahoo link goes down, you can find it at live science.com on Friday 16 January 2010.

Enjoy!

[Michael]

When I read this story I tried to find reference to a supposedly older Hebrew inscription that I know I have discussed online in the past. Unfortunately, I couldn't even find my old references. I'll want to come back to this topic and follow up when I've had a chance to read through some old books I think I still have.

I'm surprised that older inscriptions have not been mentioned, even if they have since been reclassified. I'm pretty sure there is one inscription from an Egyptian tomb that at least some people have attributed to Hebrew. Maybe from the 15th century BCE, give or take.

[Michael]

So I think the more ancient inscription I have read about was this inscription from a Pyramid that has been identified as Semitic and from the 3rd Millennium BCE. Hence, it wasn't actually Hebrew but an ancestral Semitic dialect that later gave rise to Phoenician and Hebrew (or so the scholars say).