Tiny shard bears oldest script found in Jerusalem

[Bill the Cat]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100712/...ncient_writing


Mon Jul 12, 6:04 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Archaeologists say a newly discovered clay fragment from the 14th century B.C. is the oldest example of writing ever found in antiquity-rich Jerusalem.

Dig director Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University says the 2-centimeter (0.8-inch) long fragment bears an ancient form of writing known as Akkadian wedge script.

The fragment includes a partial text including the words "you," "them," and "later."

It predates the next-oldest example of writing found in Jerusalem by 600 years, and dates roughly four centuries before the Bible says King David ruled a Jewish kingdom from the city.

[Sparko]

cool. But what are "Shard Bears" and why are they so small?

[Bill the Cat]

[Cow Poke]

Interesting!

(I wanna be a dig director)

[Adrift]

I wondered if anyone had already mentioned this.

A little more information can be found here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0712102816.htm

I found the following of interest:

ScienceDaily (July 12, 2010)

The most ancient known written record previously found in Jerusalem was the tablet found in the Shiloah water tunnel in the City of David area during the 8th century B.C.E. reign of King Hezekiah. That tablet, celebrating the completion of the tunnel, is in a museum in Istanbul. This latest find predates the Hezekiah tablet by about 600 years.

....

[Dr. Eilat] Mazar says this new discovery, providing solid evidence of the importance of Jerusalem during the Late Bronze Age (the second half of the second century B.C.E.), acts as a counterpoint to some who have used the lack of substantial archeological findings from that period until now to argue that Jerusalem was not a major center during that period. It also lends weight to the importance that accrued to the city in later times, leading up to its conquest by King David in the 10th century B.C.E., she said.

© source where applicable

I wonder how a find like this will effect David Rohl's New Chronology theory.

[FreezBee]

I wondered if anyone had already mentioned this.

A little more information can be found here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0712102816.htm

I found the following of interest:

ScienceDaily (July 12, 2010)

The most ancient known written record previously found in Jerusalem was the tablet found in the Shiloah water tunnel in the City of David area during the 8th century B.C.E. reign of King Hezekiah. That tablet, celebrating the completion of the tunnel, is in a museum in Istanbul. This latest find predates the Hezekiah tablet by about 600 years.

....

[Dr. Eilat] Mazar says this new discovery, providing solid evidence of the importance of Jerusalem during the Late Bronze Age (the second half of the second century B.C.E.), acts as a counterpoint to some who have used the lack of substantial archeological findings from that period until now to argue that Jerusalem was not a major center during that period. It also lends weight to the importance that accrued to the city in later times, leading up to its conquest by King David in the 10th century B.C.E., she said.

© source where applicable

The 14th century would be about the time of Ankhaton, and there are preserved tablets from the king of Jerusalem to Ankhaton from this time (among the El Amarna tablets), so it's not as if there need to be too much discussion about a major city at the site at that time. As I understand Thomas Thompson and Niels Peter Lemche, they accept a major city during the Bronze Age, but not during the early Iron Age. But then again, I may not have understood much.


- FreezBee