Friday, October 31, 2008

ENDLESS ATTENTION to the Khirbet Qeiyafa inscription in the press. I'm busy right now, but I'll note the Daily Mail piece that contains the inflated headline of the week:
'Proof' David slew Goliath found as Israeli archaeologists unearth 'oldest ever Hebrew text'

By Matthew Kalman
Last updated at 7:40 AM on 31st October 2008

Astounding new evidence has been unearthed in Israel that could confirm the biblical story of King David.

Until now, almost nothing has been found that would prove the biblical account of a shepherd boy from the 10th century BC who slew the giant Goliath and went on to become the King of Israel who founded Jerusalem.

But today Hebrew University archaeology professor Yosef Garfinkel announced the discovery of a tiny, but potentially invaluable, piece of pottery at the site of the ruins of an ancient fortified city south-west of Jerusalem dated to the time of King David.

[...]
Or earlier. The article is not particularly helpful, but it does contain a photo of the inscription, unfortunately with someone's hand obscuring most of it. Yitzhak Sapir has collected links to more photos here, none of which are of much use for reading the text.