You will Die!

The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

Photo Study IV

[Post twenty of thirty]

We now look at a new word and two single letters relevant to a critic’s arguments.

My introduction to them here is somewhat superficial. When I discuss that scholar’s views, I delve deeper.

Note

This is the twentieth post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet. It is also the fourth in my photo study.

If you have accessed this post from other than captivatingtwists.com and wish to start the journey from the beginning, click here.

Otherwise, continue below.

Our new word is “TMT”, meaning “You will die!”

Galil depicts it in Figure 7 as #’s: 18, 19, and 20.

The phonetic spelling is “Taw”, “Mem”, “Taw.”

Here is how they look:

• “Taw” looks like an “X” or a cross, and with small tick marks, it resembles crossed hockey sticks or swords.
• “Mem” looks like our “M”, wavy lines, or rolling waves.

To see photos and drawings of each click:

• #18: Table 9 (1 a and b);
• #19: Table 7 (1 a and b) plus Table 10, photo #7; and
• #20: Table 9 (2a and 2 b).

This concludes our proto-alphabetic vocabulary survey.

Our lexicon now includes YHW, ARUR, and TMT. These are three easy words with heavy meanings.

I now turn to our survey’s two solo letters. For simplicity, I separate these from the words they help form.

The first I call “Lovely Aleph”. See it as Figure 7’s #21 and as Table 2’s (3a & b).

All I will say currently is, “What a beauty!”

The second letter, which appears to exude rhythmic motion on the lower tablet, I call “Dancing He.

View it as Figure 7’s #3 and in Table 3 (4a & b).

See a remarkable negative of it in Table 10, #2.

We can now declare a wrap on our initial canvas of letters and words.

Consider that we have only had to learn seven unique letters–“Aleph”, “He”, “Mem”, “Resh”, “Taw”, “Waw”, and “Yod”.

At first, tackling ancient inscriptions likely intimidated. In retrospect, you likely see them as straightforward.

As an aside, consider that in short order, first graders learn all 26 letters of our alphabet. Plus, they master a corral of words from their readers. What a wonder!

I trust that you found our exercise enlightening and fun.

But we are not yet done. We must review the substance of voices opposing Stripling’s claims.

This, too, I will attempt to keep sufferable, if not entertaining.

Let us get started!

But first, here is a question. How do you suppose that children master the complexities of language? For them, it seems easy.

Let me know your response in the comment section below.

Thank you for engaging this topic with me thus far!

In our next post, we begin a discussion of voices opposing Stripling’s take on the Curse Tablet.

See you there.

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Next post: “A Refutation?“