Oldest Hebrew Writing Found, Deciphered...and it's in Greek !!!

Posted on: Thursday, 7 January 2010, 15:25 CST

We can plainly see Greek characters inscribed, so the question is can they decipher the inscription?

Israeli archaeologists reported on Thursday that they had deciphered
what they believe to be the oldest known Hebrew writing – a 3,000
year-old inscription discovered 18 months ago in the same location the
Bible says David slew Goliath.

The pottery shard contained five lines of text in the proto-Canaanite
script used by Hebrews, Philistines and others in the region during
that time.

Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa decrypted the writing.

Mr. Galil "has shown this is a Hebrew inscription," said the
university in a statement.

"The discovery makes it the earliest known Hebrew writing," read a
statement from the university.

The archaeologists used carbon dating to show that the inscription
dates back to the 10th century BC, or about one millennium older than
the Dead Sea scrolls.

"This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and
orphans," Galil told the AFP news agency.

Both the concepts and the words used in the inscriptions were specific
to the Hebrew language and society, he said.

The shard was discovered roughly 18 miles west of Jerusalem near the
gate of a site known as Elah Fortress, in the valley where the battle
of David and Goliath is said to have occurred.

According to the university’s statement, such early Hebrew
inscriptions make possible the idea that the Bible could have been
written hundreds of years before current estimates.

"The inscription is similar in its content to biblical scriptures, but
it is clear that it is not copied from any biblical text.”

Images Courtesy University of Haifa