Journey Essentials

The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

Preface IV

[Post five of thirty-three]

A minimal understanding of the Curse Tablet requires a journey across eons. For this, we need preparation.

An operational order for our journey thus follows:

Situation

• Geography

Where is Mt. Ebal?

It rises in the northern third of Samaria / Judea. Adjacent stands its smaller sister–Mt. Gerazim, flanking to the south. Between them lies a gap within which one sees modern Nablus on a western neck. ¹ Ancient Shechem lies a little to the east. ²

People have crossed this passage since antiquity. They traversed the Jordan Valley to the east and the Plain of Sharon to the Mediterranean to the west. ³

A sweeping view to the north reveals the uplands of Galilee. There, you glimpse the outline of Nazareth. Adjusting east, one sees across the Jordan to Hermon’s white pinnacle. Farther south, the view traverses the Dead Sea to the region of Moab. Finally, due south arise the heights of Jerusalem. ⁴

A nearer view reveals a valley between the two mountains into which many springs flow. These irrigate lush vineyards, orchards, and groves, yielding abundant grapes, figs, and olives. But at Mt. Ebal’s summit, rocky outcrops, “ubiquitous thistles and prickly shrubs” abound. ⁵

• History Preview:

Among these high settings, an Israeli archaeologist arrived in the 1980s. His name was Adam Zertal. While on a government survey mission, he found a suspicious mound. Excavation revealed a curious structure. Ultimately, he concluded that this was an ancient Hebrew altar. ⁶

This claim paralleled events attested in Deuteronomy and the Book of Joshua. The amazing announcement spawned a worldwide stir. ⁷

Yet, this notion ran contrary to scholars’ understanding. Mostly, they dismissed it. Many even scoffed. ⁸

Some forty years later, an archaeological team arrived. Dr. Scott Stripling headed it. He is a professor of biblical archaeology and church history at the Bible Seminary in Katy, Texas. ⁹

The team moved some of Zertal’s dump piles off-site. There, they wet-sifted the material. As a result, they found many small, missed artifacts.

One was particularly intriguing. The tiny lead object they thought was a defixio, a curse tablet. ¹⁰

Having had significant experience with such, they anticipated finding an inscribed curse.

When, however, they attempted to open it, a small corner crumbled. At that point, they ceased. ¹¹

Fortune smiled, however. Tomographic slice imaging enabled scans of what lay within. ¹²

Heritage Science published its report about the resulting photos.¹³

These startled much of the world. Allegedly, proto-alphabetic letters appeared there. These pronounced God’s Hebrew name “Yahweh,” and the word “ARWR,” meaning “cursed!” Furthermore, the words and provenance recalled a ceremony recorded in scripture. ¹⁴

After the public release of the scans, eminent scholars disputed these claims. ¹⁵

Recently, Heritage Science published another peer-reviewed essay about the tablet. In it, Mark S. Haughwout, a prominent Hebrew scholar, gives his views. He also summarized the qualms of many others.

The article concludes:

“The only substantiated claim that Stripling et al. can make at this time is that they have found a very old, small piece of folded lead on Mt. Ebal using wet sifting.” ¹⁶

Haughwout, thus, determined that there is nothing to see here!

Meanwhile, the destruction of the Mt. Ebal archaeological site looms. I will explain this later.

Mission

This memorandum argues that a government-authorized excavation of Joshua’s Altar should occur posthaste. The reasons are:

• Enough evidence supports the fantastic claims about the Curse Tablet

• The probability of Mt. Ebal revealing other important evidence is significant; and
• The chance of the destruction of that evidence is real.

Execution

Haughwout’s attempt to refute Stripling’s claims fails, I argue.

In doing so, I apply a measure derived from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rule 56 of the U.S. Code of Civil Procedure mandates how lower courts decide motions for summary judgment.

That rule’s purpose applies to our matter. Thus, it should work well.

Service and Support

For editing, I have relied on free versions of:

• Grammarly,
• Hemingway Editor, and
• ProWritingAid

Music snippets I add for ambiance.

Flowers separate each post.

Command and Signal

As co-founder of captivatingtwists.com, I welcome anyone interested in the issues presented.

This memorandum focuses on articles by Dr. Stripling and Mr. Haughwout.

Yet, the conclusions and recommendations herein are my own.

Forewarning

Strap in! Prepare not only to traverse three and a half millennia of history. Brace also to referee a joust between competing views about human reality.

The next post teases curiosity about the journey ahead.

Now here is a question. What information in this “operation order” did you find helpful?

Let me know in the comments.

Next post: ” A Mysterious Tease”

1. William Smith, Sermon Index, Ebal, Mount, Smith’s Bible Dictionary, (1863), paragraph 1, https://sermonindex.net/encyclopedia/e/ebal-mount/ ↩︎
2. James Orr, Sermon Index, Ebal, Mount, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,(1915), paragraph 1, https://sermonindex.net/encyclopedia/e/ebal-mount/ ↩︎
3. Id. ↩︎
4. Id. paragraph 2 ↩︎
5. Id. paragraph 1 ↩︎
6. Steve Law, patternsofevidence.com, Ancient Hebrew Writing on Tablet Discovered at Joshua’s Altar, paragraph 3, February 4, 2022 ↩︎
7. Id. paragraph 1 ↩︎
8. Id. paragraph 6 ↩︎
9. Melanie Lidman, Academic article on controversial 3,200-year old ‘curse tablet’ fails to sway experts, The Times of Israel,14 May 2023, paragraph 2,  https://www.timesofisrael.com/academic-article-on-controversial-3200-year-old-curse-tablet-fails-to-sway-experts/ (7 October 2024) p.2 ↩︎
10. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (02:00), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
11. Associates for Biblical Research, “ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found”, biblicarchaeology.org/current-events-list/, Youtube, (12:34), March 24, 2022. ↩︎
12. Breaking News “Mt Ebal Curse Tablet Peer Review Complete”, Appian Media In Roads, May 12, 2023 (24:56) ↩︎
13. Stripling, S., Galil, G., Kumpova, I. et al. “You are Cursed by the God YHW:” an early Hebrew inscription from Mt. Ebal. Herit Sci 11, 105 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9 ↩︎
14. Melanie Lidman, Academic article on controversial 3,200-year old ‘curse tablet’ fails to sway experts, supra at paragraph 38 ↩︎
15. Id. paragraphs 18-21 ↩︎
16. Haughwout, M.S. Mt. Ebal curse tablet? A refutation of the claims regarding the so called Mt. Ebal curse tablet. Herit Sci 12, 70 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-01130-z, paragraph 57. ↩︎

To view the memorandum from the beginning, click here.

For the composite footnotes, click here.