Ancient handle with Hebrew text found in Jerusalem
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print  AP – This image made available by Israel's Antiquities Authority Wednesday, May 20, 2009 shows an Iron Age … By JOSEPH MARKS, Associated Press Writer Joseph Marks, Associated Press Writer – 18 mins ago
JERUSALEM – Archaeologists digging on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives have discovered a nearly 3,000-year-old jar handle bearing ancient Hebrew script, a find significantly older than most inscribed artifacts unearthed in the ancient city, an archaeologist said. The Iron Age handle is inscribed with the Hebrew name Menachem, which was the name of an Israelite king and is still common among Jews.

The inscription also includes a partly intact letter, the Hebrew character "lamed," meaning "to." That suggests the jar was a gift to someone named Menachem, said Ron Beeri, who directed the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority. There is no indication the inscription refers to the king himself.

The name and similar variants have been found on Egyptian pottery dating back 3,500 years, and the Bible lists Menachem Ben Gadi as an ancient king of Israel. But this is the first time an artifact bearing the name has been unearthed in Jerusalem, Beeri said.

"It's important because it shows that they actually used the name Menachem during that period," Beeri said. "It's not just from the Bible, but it's also in the archaeological record."

Based on the style of the inscription, he dated the handle to around 900 B.C., the time of the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as recounted in the Bible.

The vessel the handle was attached to did not survive, so it is impossible to tell what it was used for, Beeri said. Similar vessels were known to have held products like oil or wheat.

Construction workers uncovered the archaeological site while digging the foundation for a girl's school being built in the area, Beeri said.

Excavators also uncovered storage vessels and implements from two earlier nomadic settlements, both dating to around 2,000 B.C., he said, as well as artifacts dating from the time of the Roman Empire around 2,000 years ago.

Archaeologists have completed their dig, and construction workers building the school are back on the job, Beeri said.

The Mount of Olives is just outside Jerusalem's Old City. The hill is important to Jews because of its proximity to the destroyed Temple and to Christians, who believe it is the site where Jesus ascended to heaven.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_ancient_inscription

You would do well as a sensationalist reporter, this post's heading is a gross distortion of the truth. The post does nothing than prove that some elements of the old testament is true.

duduspace:

You would do well as a sensationalist reporter, this post's heading is a gross distortion of the truth. The post does nothing than prove that some elements of the old testament is true.

I was just about to say the same thing

You almost bought me with this one,

Jeez, see me thinking they found a whole bible in some dusty cave

The same clowns throw a fit when the gnostic gospels are portrayed as true.