Moabite Altar Inscription: Earliest Reference to ‘Hebrews’?
(Worthy News) – A recently deciphered Moabite stone altar inscription may bear the earliest use of the term “Hebrews,” according to epigraphists Adam Bean and Prof. Christopher Rollston. The inscribed incense altar was discovered during the 2010 excavations at Khirbet Ataruz (biblical Ataroth), in Jordan. The find provides additional evidence for the existence of an early Moabite nation; demonstrates a developing, independent Moabite script; reveals the nation’s cultic practices; and helps fill out the biblical account of 2 Kings 3.
The 50 x 18.5 centimeter stone altar contains seven lines of text in two separate inscriptions: Three short horizontal lines make up Inscription A, and four longer vertical lines make up Inscription B. The inscriptions date to the late ninth–early eighth centuries b.c.e. Research of the script was conducted by Adam Bean, Christopher Rollston, P. Kyle McCarter and Stefan Wimmer; the team concluded that Inscription A was written first, followed by the partially overlapping Inscription B. Due to the poorly preserved nature of the inscriptions, there remains some measure of uncertainty regarding the proposed translations. [ Source: Watch Jerusalem (Read More…) ]