Inschrift aus der Zeit König Davids entziffert

Professor Gershon Galil von der Universität Haifa hat eine Inschrift auf einer Tonscherbe entziffert, die auf das 1000 Jahrhundert v.C. datiert wird, also in die Zeit König Davids. Bei der Inschrift handelt es sich um altertümliches Hebräisch und sie stellt das derzeit früheste Beispiel hebräischer Schrift da.

The significance of this breakthrough relates to the fact that at least some of the Biblical scriptures are now proven to have been composed hundreds of years before the dates presented today in research and that the Kingdom of Israel already existed at that time.

The inscription itself, which was written in ink on a 15x16.5cm trapezoid pottery shard, was discovered a year and a half ago at excavations that were carried out by Professor Yosef Garfinkel near the Elah valley, south of Jerusalem, and west of Hevron.

"This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans. It uses verbs that were characteristic of Hebrew, such as "asah" (did) and "avad" (worked), which were rarely used in other regional languages. Particular words that appear in the text, such as "almana" (widow) are specific to Hebrew and are written differently in other local languages. The content itself was also unfamiliar to all the cultures in the region besides the Hebrew society: The present inscription provides social elements similar to those found in the Biblical prophecies and very different from prophecies written by other cultures postulating glorification of the gods and taking care of their physical needs"

The deciphered text:

[…………………………………]
1' ’l t‘ś w‘bd ’[t ….…]
2' špt [‘]b[d] w’lm[n] špt yt[m]
3' [w]gr [r]b ‘ll rb [d]l w
4' ’[l]mn šqm ybd mlk
5' ’[b]yn [w]‘bd šk gr t[mk]

[……………………………………………………]
1' you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
2' Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an]
3' [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and]
4' the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
5' Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.

http://voiceofthecopts.org/en/archeology_and_history/king_david_era_pottery_shard_supports_biblical_narrative.html