Recent Discovery Points to Earlier Bibical Dating

PDN

A recent discovery, of an inscription written in the 10th Century BC, has weakened the case of those who argue that the Old Testament was written at a much later date.

Their position had been that biblical Hebrew wasn't being written earlier than the 6th Century BC - so therefore all the Old Testament books must have been written around that time. This discovery puts the skids under that argument.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100115/sc_livescience/biblepossiblywrittencenturiesearliertextsuggests

Zombrex

+1

Interesting discovery

Pompey Magnus

Apparently the case is not quite as clear cut as suggested in the article, there is considerable scholarly oppostion to the suggestion that this is a Hebrew document. Prof Galeil's translation is not supported by Profs Misgav, Yardeni, Ahituv, and Schniedewind, who give a much more banal reading to pottery. Also it is being argued that the writing may be just as likely to be Proto-Phoenician See here. That said it is an interesting find and will hopefully shed light on a time so poorly attested in archaeological records.

Fanny Cradock

Apparently Prof. Rollstone (from Charco's link) enjoys antique furniture restoration.

I thought that was noteworthy.

Pompey Magnus

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

Apparently Prof. Rollstone (from Charco's link) enjoys antique furniture restoration.

I thought that was noteworthy.

Apparently he does, that and his many (in my mind more noteworthy) interests and achievements are listed on his website.

Equally (un)noteworthy, the archaeologist who discovered the pottery, Yosef Garfinkel (from PDN's link) is interested in the history of dance.

Fanny Cradock

Imagine being sandwiched between these guys on a long-haul flight.

The horror!





(I'd imagine they would be fascinating guys so long as they kept away from furniture and dance)

wolfsbane

PDN wrote: »

A recent discovery, of an inscription written in the 10th Century BC, has weakened the case of those who argue that the Old Testament was written at a much later date.

Their position had been that biblical Hebrew wasn't being written earlier than the 6th Century BC - so therefore all the Old Testament books must have been written around that time. This discovery puts the skids under that argument.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100115/sc_livescience/biblepossiblywrittencenturiesearliertextsuggests

Did you see the Christianity: A History by Harold Jacobson last night? It was on Creation. But the relevant bit for this thread was the infantile argument for the Pentateuch being Exilic or post-Exilic in origin. It goes like this: archeology has found many goddess figurines in Israelite houses c800BC, so the Jews could not have been monotheists then. It took the Exile to shape a monotheistic theology.

This from so-called scholars! It's as if they never read the Biblical accounts that reveal Israel in the land, right down to the Exile. Accounts that time after time tell of the apostasy and declension of the nation, indeed specifically listing goddess-worship as a key feature.

If the Bible accounts are accurate, one should have been surprised not to find goddess figurines in 9thC.BC Israel.

JimiTime

wolfsbane wrote: »

Did you see the Christianity: A History by Harold Jacobson last night? It was on Creation. But the relevant bit for this thread was the infantile argument for the Pentateuch being Exilic or post-Exilic in origin. It goes like this: archeology has found many goddess figurines in Israelite houses c800BC, so the Jews could not have been monotheists then. It took the Exile to shape a monotheistic theology.

This from so-called scholars! It's as if they never read the Biblical accounts that reveal Israel in the land, right down to the Exile. Accounts that time after time tell of the apostasy and declension of the nation, indeed specifically listing goddess-worship as a key feature.

If the Bible accounts are accurate, one should have been surprised not to find goddess figurines in 9thC.BC Israel.

Ha ha. The above is a carbon copy of the rant I gave my wife (she didn't see it) after watching it:) Its baffling that these 'Scholars' seem to lack such basic knowledge

I remember watching a similar kind of documentary years ago. In it they had another 'Scholar' who was 'discrediting' the bibles historic accounts. How? By saying the following:

'The Bible says that Babylon were a Godless nation. Well nothing could be further from the truth. Babylon had many gods who were greatly revered.'

I thought, 'Is this guy for real? Does he really not grasp what the bible calling them Godless means?'

The problem arises with those who think that because its presented as this scholarly research, its true. More often than not, programmes like these are a frustrating watch. Jacobson, in his search for some middle ground was so condescending on the religious. 'Why do you bother with fact?' He asked one person. 'You have such wonderful literature and poetry.' Basically, 'Leave the facts to the experts, you are artists and storytellers.' He said it in such a genuine way, that I can't say I was annoyed, rather, I was bemused at his lack of understanding.
Anyway.....:)