#1021 Philistines

This week's program started out as an update on the archaeology of the five Philistine Pentapolis cities: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Gath and Ekron. But there was so much to talk about at Gath and Ekron I don't think we made it to the other three. We'll have to cover them some other time.

One more note: the BBC is doing a Biblical Archaeology series on The Search for the Historical Jesus, something we covered in program #990 with Professor Ben Witherington. But give a listen anyway.

#1019-1020 More on the Tel Zayet Alphabet

There's lots to read about the Tel Zayet alphabet discovery, or more accurately the abecedary. Head archaeologist Ron Tappy talked to us by telephone from Pittsburgh just before heading off to the annual meetings in Philadelphia. So you can hear him in his own words on these two programs. Let me know what you think, comments welcome. The student who actually discovered the stone is chronicled in this story.

Photo, left to right: Professor Ron E. Tappy
Director and Principal Investigator, The Zeitah Excavations
G. Albert Shoemaker Professor of Bible and Archaeology
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Professor P. Kyle McCarter
William Foxwell Albright Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Johns Hopkins University

Professor Marilyn J. Lundberg
Associate Director, West Semitic Research Project

Professor Bruce Zuckerman
Professor of Religion
Director, West Semitic Research Project
University of Southern California

Photo courtesy of the Tel Zayet excavation.

Additional media coverage:
http://www.zeitah.net/UpdateTelZayit.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=92812
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9980598/
http://newsfromrussia.com/science/2005/11/13/67527.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05314/603769.stm
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/13121561.htm
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=4093810

#1018 Ancient Alphabet Discovery

Here's fast for you. Today's New York Times has an article on the discovery of the earliest known Hebrew alphabet. And that just happens to be the topic of this week's BOOK & THE SPADE program. Actually our program was taped last week. John Noble Wilford must've seen the same item we saw, and did an interview with archaeologist Ron Tappy. We'll have Tappy on the program in a few weeks. But first we want to allow time for other scholars to react at the Annual Meetings that will be attended by archaeologists from all over the world.

One important note here, we're talking about the Hebrew alphabet. There are earlier alphabet discoveries, most notably in Egypt. Until recently, scholars thought the earliest alphabet came from Serabit el-Khadem in the Sinai, a proto-Canaanite script it was called. The last time we discussed this topic, it was about a discovery by Yale University Egyptologist, Dr John Darnell, at Wadi el-Hol in upper Egypt that pushed the chronology back a few hundred more years.

You're probably also been hearing a lot of coverage of what may be the world's oldest church, discovered at a prison near Israel's Tel Megiddo, already one of the most important sites in Biblical Archaeology. The best story on it may have been the one in The Washington Post. The best photos seemed to be at the National Geographic. We'll cover this in an upcoming program, probably next week. I'm looking for a little more informed reaction from scholars, instead of a lot of guessing that's been mostly featured so far. Have a great week.

#1017 Archaeologist under arrest

This week's program discusses a late breaking news story about the arrest of archaeologist Hanan Eshel. Details are reported in several Israeli newspapers including The Jerusalem Post. Is this for real or a mountain made out of a molehill? Judge for yourself as you listen to our discussion and read the article.