A historic moment today. At an ABR press conference, archaeologists announced that they had managed to decipher the ancient Hebrew script, on top of the mascot discovered on the altar of Yahweh in December 2019 by archaeologist Dr. Scott Strippling and in January this year it was announced that the letter A was identified in ancient Hebrew.
The mascot was uncovered during a soil filtration left over from excavations previously done by Prof. Adam Zertel. The screening was done in Samaria captivity, and the mascot was uncovered by Dr. Scott Strippling who showed the findings to Samaria Council Chairman Yossi Dagan at the scene.
The researchers revealed, by advanced means, with the help of researchers at the University of Prague, that the words were found on the mascot:
Cursed, Cursed, Cursed – Cursed by H. Y.H.W.H.
You will die cursed.
You will surely die cursed.
Cursed by YHWH – Cursed, Cursed, Cursed.
For the first time, the name of God is set apart – YHWH – the name of being. In such an ancient period.
Scholars speculate that the amulet dates from the Late Bronze Age and is suitable for the discovery of the late Prof. Adam Zertel, who discovered the altar of Joshua during the Mount Menashe survey in the 1980s, which dated the site to the last quarter of the 13th century BC. Zertel concluded that the site was a remnant of an altar, and identified it with the altar described in Deuteronomy, chapter 27, verses 1-10, and in the book of Joshua, chapter eight as a central part of the blessing and cursing class, and therefore called it ‘Joshua Altar’.
This is the oldest Hebrew script ever found. Scholars believe that the mascot is from the Late Bronze Age. Appropriate for the time when Joshua Ben-Nun came with the people of Israel to enter the land and in fact there was a blessing and cursing ceremony.
The size of the mascot is 2 cm by 2 cm. And the explicit name of God appears on it, probably in its earliest appearance ever.
“The importance of this finding to the people of Israel for its generations and to the State of Israel cannot be overstated,” says Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council. We as a council will continue to work to preserve the place and demand that the authorities address the issue and take care to protect the place. ”
Moshe Gutman, director of “Preservers of Eternity”, says that: The sensational discovery carries with it a great risk to the site, and therefore we at Preservers of Eternity define it as a site at risk at the highest level of risk. The discovery also proves that this is not a ‘local matter’ – but a world heritage value, the object of interest of hundreds of millions around the world. It is not possible for the Israeli government to remove responsibility and not maintain the site. If the site is damaged, the responsibility will lie entirely with the Minister of Defense, the Prime Minister and the Government of Israel. It is ridiculous that we should say this, but we call on them to act immediately to protect the site and the archeological space around it. The Prime Minister pledged that the law of the altar was the law of the Western Wall. Now is the time to realize our history. “