Ebal’s Juice

The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

Follow Through II

[Ebal, thirty of thirty-four]

Might Mt. Ebal harbor other evidence? Could it be profoundly important to understanding human history?

Again, is the juice worth the squeeze? Let us consider!

Hidden Evidence?

The Curse Tablet likely remembered Joshua’s initial ceremony. Yet it probably did not take part.

The evidence indicates that the author inscribed it later.

Why? Archaeologists have not excavated the part of the round altar that likely existed in Joshua’s time. This implies that the author placed the Curse Tablet on the altar after the initial event.

That raises the possibility that another tablet accompanied the initial ceremony!

Note that Stripling anticipates further excavations. He plans to do this as soon as the present geopolitical tensions subside.

But why the anticipation? In part, further excavation and analysis raise interesting issues.

First, the Book of Job is relevant. It implies that the ancients valued metal as a writing surface. 3

Stripling’s team has found three writing styluses. They found these in the dump Zertal designated as altar material. 4

This suggests several writings. These may lie on the small altar.

An ancient author may have etched a revealing message on a gold ring, earrings, or a bracelet. Afterwards, the scribe included them in a sacrifice.

Moreover, the site may contain other important evidence.

Recently, geomagnetic dating has proved key to dating ancient sites. 1

After solids heat to an extreme temperature and then cool, something revealing happens. Their magnetic minerals align with the Earth’s core geomagnetic signature. Compare these with the signatures of other burn sites from a similar period. This gives clues about their relative dates.

Scientists should analyze the magnetic signatures of the stones from Joshua’s Altar.

This also applies to the site’s tablet and pottery.

New artifacts from the small altar would also yield valuable information. 1

Match this data with other burn data from sites across the Late Bronze Age Middle East. Examples include those from Egyptian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Minoan, Mycenaean, Trojan, and Babylonian sources. It also includes biblical sites at Jericho, Ai, and Shiloh.

These scientists would compare with an anchor, a known contemporary date.

I realize that zeroing in on a solid anchor in such ancient times may be difficult. Still, we should retrieve and store the geomagnetic data. That way, if archaeologists identify an anchor, the data will be available.

Precise calculation of Joshua’s Altar would follow.

Further, Zertal retrieved plaster bits during his excavations. Infrared light has not illuminated these. Such could reveal ancient messages. Biblical accounts say Moses directed Joshua to write on plaster.

More plaster may lie in the portion of the small altar yet to be excavated.

In sum, Mt. Ebal likely contains archaeological evidence that humanity should glean. This can prove crucial to unraveling historical mysteries.

Now for questions: What ancient event dates close to Joshua’s altar? Could it produce important geomagnetic signatures?

Let me know in the comments section below.

Next Post: “Solution A”

1. Associates for Biblical Research, Cursed! The Mount Ebal Curse Tablet (Part Three, Digging for Truth Episode 200), YouTube, (16:20), May 1, 2023. ↩︎
2. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com > watch, (17:35), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
3. Associates for Biblical Research, Cursed! The Mount Ebal Curse Tablet (Part Two, Digging for Truth Episode 200), YouTube, (10:35), May 1, 2023. ↩︎
4. Associates for Biblical Research, YaHWeh Curse Tablet: A Tsunami from Mt. Ebal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU5njOpRCHQ&t=85s, (42:22) 1 November 2024. ↩︎
5. ELIZABETH FERNANDEZ, Big Think, Earth’s magnetic field supports biblical stories of destruction of ancient cities When battles raged in ancient cities, their rocks blazed so brightly that they could be reoriented according to Earth’s magnetic field, December 25, 2023 ↩︎
6. Associates for Biblical Research, YaHWeh Curse Tablet: A Tsunami from Mt. Ebal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU5njOpRCHQ&t=85s, (13:15) 1 November 2024. ↩︎

To view the memorandum from the beginning, click here.