Give Moses a Chance!

The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

Foreword

{Post one of thirty-two}

We should give Moses, Joshua, and the Hebrews of the Conquest a chance to prove who they are! Advocate for excavating “Joshua’s Altar,” the origin of the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet!

This site in Judea/Samaria has lain exposed for forty years. Yet, it may harbor some of history’s greatest archaeological artifacts.

Note

This is the first post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

If you have not arrived at this topic via captivatingtwists.com and wish to read the entire memorandum in sequence, click here.

Otherwise, continue below.

My name is Ernie Vallery. I am a retired Louisiana attorney living in South Coast, Massachusetts.

Claims about the Curse Tablet counter an entrenched historical premise. Generations of scholars have said that Moses could not have written the Torah. Scripture attests otherwise. So may the tablet.

Our problem is how to resolve, in part, this tension.

My answer is that we apply a legal standard such as the one used in federal courts for summary judgment.

My plea results. Regional and international actors must stir. They should finish excavations at Joshua’s Altar. They should spend the necessary financial, political, and other resources.

Joshua’s Altar and the Curse Tablet deserve a chance to prove their identity. Are they a consequence of the words and actions of the Hebrews of the Conquest? Humankind deserves to know!

The exigent evidence demands:

• Immediate international protection of the proposed altar; and
• Corporate and governmental support for its thorough archaeological excavation.

This argument raises necessary questions, which I should address at the outset. Before launching into the matter’s heart, I thus present these three prefatory posts:

• Why Write This?
• Why the Fuss? and
• Why Me?

Two introductory posts follow. The first seeks to arm readers for a 3,500-year journey. The second wets enthusiasm for that trip.

Those posts are:

• Journey Essentials and
• A Mysterious Tease

Afterwards comes the main body.

The table of contents is thus:

• Foreword (This post)
• Preface (Posts 2 through 4)
  • Why Write This?
  • Why the Fuss?
  • Why Me?
• Introduction (Posts 5 and 6)
  • Journey Essentials
  • A Mysterious Tease
• History (Posts 7 through 16)
  • The Paradigm
  • Joshua’s Altar?
  • Zertal Rejected
  • Whoa!
  • A Defixio?
  • An Inscription!
  • Staking a Claim
  • A Firestorm!
  • Peer Review
  • Troubled Waters
• Photo Study (Posts 17 through 20)
  • Stripling’s Article
  • “ARWR,” Cursed!”
  • “YHW,” “Yahweh!”
  • “TMT,” “A Warning!”
• Opposing Voices (Posts 21 through 22)
  • A Refutation?
  • Between WWN, Sun, and Earth
• Dissecting the Arguments (Posts 23 through 28)
  • A Plan
  • Letters?
  • The ARWR Debate
  • The YHW Debate
  • Pre-1250 B.C. Hebrew?
  • My Decision
• Wrapping Up (Posts 29 through 31) and
  • A Loose End
  • A Solution
  • Taking Action
• Conclusion (32).

It seems like a lot! But do not be intimidated. Hang with the story. Then this consequential topic becomes easy, much like witnessing a cascade of dominoes.

Here is a question. What present historical issues compare to those explored in this memorandum? Let me know in the “comments”.

Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

The next post addresses: “Why Write This?”

I look forward to continuing with you there.

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Next post: “Why Write This?“