An Inscription!

The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

History VI

[Post twelve of thirty-two]

Glyphs adorned the tablet’s outside. Stripling realized this. Yet, he was most intrigued by what lay within. There, as with other defixios, someone likely inscribed a curse.

Usually, this curse was trivial. Often it was something like, “She stole my boyfriend. May her hair fall out.” 1

Stripling and a colleague thus attempted to open it. The lead of one corner, brittle with age, however, crumbled. They thus stopped further efforts. 2

The Hebrew University in Tel Aviv analyzed the lead fragments and determined their origin. It was from a mine in Lavrion, Greece. 3

Historians and archaeologists conclude that this mine indeed exported lead to the Middle East. This occurred from before the Late Bronze Age into Roman times. 4

Here, a curious historical anomaly deserves consideration.

In the Mediterranean world around the 12th century B.C., a dark age ensued. 5 Then, the Late Bronze Age civilization imploded. Ancient exports plunged. European / Asian economic and cultural sophistication wilted. A mysterious disaster struck several advanced societies. 6 These include the Hittite, Ugaritic, Minoan, Mycenaean, Trojan, and Babylonian. Scholars have yet to find a definitive explanation.

From this understanding, Stripling deduced a probability.

Zertal’s exhaustive study had found only pottery of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries.

Someone in the Thirteenth Century B.C. or earlier thus likely imported the lead tablet before the ancient Dark Age of 1200 to 1150 B.C.

The metallurgical analysis, thus, strengthened Stripling’s tablet date.

This, however, he did not consider concrete.

Here, Stripling felt that the tablet investigation should end. It was time for greater focus on his other pursuits.

He emailed a colleague a photo of the tablet.

Afterwards, this circulated online.

Later, an unexpected opportunity for further investigation materialized.

Stripling read about a technological advancement. Researchers in Europe demonstrated how to peer through lead to discern written content. They were from the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (Telč, Czech Republic). 1

Stripling and others went to work. Israeli authorities issued a license. A colleague would courier the “defixio” to Prague. 2

Time passed. The Institute at Telč, 152 km from the Czech capital, finished its analysis. They then forwarded their results. 1

The Telč team indeed perceived something within. An epigraphic expert there suggested proto-alphabetic letters. Ancient letters represented sounds rather than complete thoughts.

These initial revelations alone had profound meaning for Stripling. Now he had his most conclusive evidence for dating the tablet. It had to be the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age I, from as early as 1400 to as late as 1250 B.C.

Why? This was the accepted period for the use of proto-alphabetic script. 2

The tablet no longer presented an anachronistic dilemma. It now matched Zertal’s pottery dates.

What else could this additional evidence portend?

I probe this further in my next post!

But now here is a question: What do you think likely caused the Late Bronze Age civilizational collapse?

Let me know in the comments below.

Next post: “Staking a Claim“

1. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (8:49), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
2. Associates for Biblical Research, “ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found”, biblicarchaeology.org/current-events-list/, Youtube, (12:37), March 24, 2022;
   and
   Melanie Lidman, Academic article on controversial 3,200-year old ‘curse tablet’ fails to sway experts, The Times of Israel,14 May 2023, paragraph 26,  https://www.timesofisrael.com/academic-article-on-controversial-3200-year-old-curse-tablet-fails-to-sway-experts/, (7 October 2024). ↩︎
3. Associates for Biblical Research, “ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found”, biblicarchaeology.org/current-events-list/, Youtube, (12:39), March 24, 2022. ↩︎
4. Id.
   and
   Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (4:31 and 12:22), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
5. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (12:22), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
6. Associates for Biblical Research, Cursed! The Mount Ebal Curse Tablet (Part Two, Digging for Truth Episode 200), YouTube, (12:30), May 1, 2023. ↩︎
7. Melanie Lidman, Academic article on controversial 3,200-year old ‘curse tablet’ fails to sway experts, The Times of Israel,14 May 2023, paragraph 27,  https://www.timesofisrael.com/academic-article-on-controversial-3200-year-old-curse-tablet-fails-to-sway-experts/, (7 October 2024). ↩︎
8. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (39:34 and 40:38), 11 May 2023;
   and
   Associates for Biblical Research, “ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found”, biblicarchaeology.org/current-events-list/, Youtube, (08:08), March 24, 2022;
   and
   Associates for Biblical Research, Cursed! The Mount Ebal Curse Tablet (Part Two, Digging for Truth Episode 200), YouTube, (14:35), May 1, 2023. ↩︎
9. Associates for Biblical Research, Cursed! The Mount Ebal Curse Tablet (Part Two, Digging for Truth Episode 200), YouTube, (15:00), May 1, 2023. ↩︎
10. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch,
     (14:28 and 24:09), 11 May 2023 ↩︎