Troubled Waters

The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

Facts

History of Joshua’s Altar and the Curse Tablet X

[Post sixteen of thirty-three]

Here is our final history post. While all the previous ones are important, this is especially so!

After the press conference, twelve months passed. Then, on 12 May 2023, Heritage Science finally published Stripling’s article. That is three and a half years from the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet’s discovery,

How was that Heritage Science article received?

Some people expressed elation, some disappointment, and others disgust.

In succeeding posts, I will scrutinize the article, its photos, and various responses.

Here, though, I recall the context of these days. Significant currents darkened the times from the tablet’s discovery through Stripling’s publication and beyond.

Of these, three particularly warrant recounting.

Pandemic

In December 2019, as we have seen, the lead tablet landed in Frankie Snyder’s wet-sifting tray.

In that same month, ominous events brewed in another part of the world.

The date is December 12, 2019. For it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded this diary entry:

“A cluster of patients in China’s Hubei Province, in the city of Wuhan, begin to experience the symptoms of an atypical pneumonia-like illness that does not respond well to standard treatments.”

Afterwards, COVID-19 led to a two-year hiatus from Stripling’s work in Israel. 1

Local Perils

On January 24, 2023, JNS, Jewish News Syndicate, reported an Israeli official’s protest. The Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, communicated:

“Israel will not allow Palestinians to damage a major archaeological site located deep in the biblical heartland of Samaria, one that is revered by millions of Jews and Christians as the location where Joshua built an altar.”

He issued it in response to a news report. The Palestinian Authority had approved plans for road construction and housing near the Ebal altar site.

In a letter to the Palestinian Authority, Gallant further directed:

“…it has been clarified…to the Palestinian Authority that we will not allow any damage to the altar, which has been defined as an archaeological site of historic, cultural and religious significance.”

Past and present events underscored the necessity of Gallant’s manifesto. These include:

• In 2021, a Palestinian road crew damaged the outer “footprint” enclosing the Ebal altar.
• During recent decades, alarming incidents have occurred in Nablus. This included the firebombing of the alleged tomb of the patriarch, Joseph. (Note that the actual location of Joseph’s tomb is a matter of speculation.)
• Now, armed military units escort pilgrims to the area. This began after the Oslo Accords. They designated the region as “Area B”. Authority there rested with the Palestinian civil government and the Israeli military.

From this last bullet, one can sense what locals might feel. Some descend from generations of residents. This would aggrieve many.

If this Israeli military escort resembles an American operation, I can imagine its composition. Vehicles arrive armed with 50-caliber machine guns, 240 Bravos, or 249 SAWS. Infantry clad in full armor climb to elevated positions. A defensive cordon restricts unauthorized civilians from entering the area.

If some foreign authority exercised such power near my home, I can imagine my caustic feelings!

One can also perceive the necessity of these escort measures.

Thus, factor in local embitterment when evaluating the security of the altar site.

October 7, 2023

Little, if anything, equates to the ghastly evil of Hamas’s massacre of innocents on this date.

Whether one labels Israel’s response “hard” or “brutal” is not the question. Both can fall well within the acceptable context of the laws of war.

The real question is whether Israel has perpetrated war crimes. World authorities should test what lands fair and foul. Later, individual soldiers, units, and leaders, where appropriate, should give an account.

Two things can be true. Violations of the law of war we should not excuse. One should also not forget the horror that precipitated the resulting conflagration.

From it, dominoes have since fallen, ones that have shaken much of the world.

For our purposes, we must remember this: Mt. Ebal lies proximate to the eye of this tumult.

Let us now bridge these troubled waters.

In the next post, I will begin my review of the Stripling team’s Heritage Science article.

Now for some questions. Do you remember first hearing about COVID-19? Where and when was this? Are you aware that in 1918, a similar flu likely originated near Fort Riley, Kansas? That one, in short order, killed between twenty and a hundred million people worldwide. It likely hastened the end of World War I and confounded the tensions leading to World War II.

Let me know in “comments”.

Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

We now leave our Curse Tablet history. The next fact category regards Stripling’s claims. After that comes the last fact category: “Opposing claims.”

I look forward to continuing with you.

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Next post: “Publication!”

1. Associates for Biblical Research, YaHWeh Curse Tablet: A Tsunami from Mt. Ebal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU5njOpRCHQ&t=85s, (29:23) 1 November 2024. ↩︎

To view the memorandum from the beginning, click here.

For the composite footnotes, click here.