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  • Between WWN, Sun, and Earth

    Between WWN, Sun, and Earth

    Opposing Voices II

    [Ebal, twenty-two of thirty]

    The last post sets up tension in our Curse Tablet story. Stripling alleges that his artifact challenges world history. Haughwout counters that he has disproved such.

    Henceforth, Haughwout suggests that Stripling’s positions qualify only for grocery-aisle tabloid offerings. In essence, they are like Bigfoot and Freddie Mercury sightings.

    Note

    This is the twenty-second post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet. It is also the second to assess opposing voices.

    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.


    Photo by Jack Sparrow on Pexels.com

    In other words, Haughwout contends that he has nullified Stripling’s arguments. They are unfit for further serious consideration.


    BIGFOOT VS. ALIENS!

    HAIRY HERO DEFENDS HOME TURF AGAINST SPACE INVADERS!

    9 May 2006-Weekly World News

    Photo by Gabe on Pexels.com

    DA VINCI WAS A TIME TRAVELER!

    5 August 2006-the SUN


    Photo by Henry Acevedo on Pexels.com

    With Haughwout, a sizable contingent of authors and professional commentators agree.

    This, a quick online search confirms. Google “Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet”. There you soon encounter offerings such as these:

    • “New Studies Debunk Controversial Biblical ‘Curse Tablet’ from Mt. Ebal”;1
    • “New academic articles heap fresh doubt on Mount Ebal ‘curse tablet’ interpretation;”2
    • “Academic article on controversial 3,200-year-old ‘curse tablet fails to sway experts’ “3
    • “Hook, Line, and Sinker: Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet Debunked?;”4
    • “Don’t Be Fooled by the Mount Ebal Curse Tablet.” 5
    • “The Mt. Ebal “inscription” is actually a Folding Lead Clasp.”6

    Delve deeper into these, and you encounter statements from professionals like these:

    • “This article is basically a textbook case of the Rorschach Test, and the authors of this article have projected upon a piece of lead the things they want it to say.” So advises Professor Christopher Rollston, an expert in Northwest Semitic languages. Dr Rollston is also the chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at George Washington University 1.
    • “The images made it clear that there are no discernible letters on this piece of crumpled lead,” said Rollston. “And again, the authors’ drawing of the letters bears no real similarity to what is present in the images; “2
    • “One big nothingburger”, says Dr. Robert Cargill, a professor at the University of Iowa. 3

    Articles and opinions pro and con are, of course, appropriate. The scholarly process thrives on such.“`

    But how might we discern who has the better argument, Haughwout or Stripling?

    This question the next post addresses.

    But for now, here is a question. What wild stories have you heard about Bigfoot, Freddie Mercury, or Leonardo da Vinci? Do you agree that archaeology is fertile ground for such?

    Let me know in the comment section below.

    Thank you for engaging this topic with me thus far!

    The next post, I entitle: “A Plan”.

    I hope that you will continue with me there.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “A Plan“

    Dinner-bouquet-option
  • A Refutation?

    A Refutation?

    The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

    Opposing Voices I

    [Post twenty-one of thirty]

    Influential scholars criticize Stripling’s Heritage Science article. Many declare its claims debunked.

    Here, I focus on the work of one such critic, Mark S. Haughwout. He is a respected Hebrew scholar at the Indian Bible College, Flagstaff, Arizona.

    Note

    This is the twenty-first post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

    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.

    There are a couple of reasons for this.

    For one, he has written an admirable piece about the subject. In it, he gives his thoughts. Plus, he summarizes the main views of other prominent voices.

    The second reason is that his publisher, Heritage Science, is the same as Stripling’s. Thus, his article is also free and accessible online.

    This, of course, makes a layperson’s review of his work practical.

    Before plunging into the body of Haughwout’s article, let us consider its title–“Mt. Ebal curse tablet? A refutation of the claims regarding the so-called Mt. Ebal curse tablet.”

    A keyword is “refutation”.

    Merriam-Webster defines this as “the act or process of refuting”.

    For the root word, “refute”, it gives these alternative definitions:

    1. : to prove wrong by argument or evidence: show to be false or erroneous
    2. : to deny the truth or accuracy of

    In these meanings, there is a wide difference.

    Which did Haughwout intend?

    Does Haughwout prove Stripling’s claims false, or does he deny their truth?

    To underscore the vast difference in these ideas, consider Matthew 9:5 NIV.

    Jesus healing the paraplegic

    Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

    Matthew 9:5 NIV

    Of course, the answer is the former.

    Also, denying the truth of Stripling’s claims is one thing. Actually proving that they are wrong is another.

    So which is it? How can we know?

    By happenstance, Haughwout answers himself. His conclusion states: “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.”

    By using the word “refutation”, Haughwout thus says that he has disproved Stripling’s claims. This declares more than a dispute.

    Photo by Arturo Au00f1ez. on Pexels.com

    We thus perceive how Haughwout’s and Striplling’s ideas conflict.

    One alleges that the Ebal tablet depicts something important.

    The other claims to have refuted, i. e., disproved, those contentions. He declares, “Currently, this tablet presents nothing of consequence.”

    One says, “Take notice, world! This artifact likely challenges history.”

    The other declares that he has shown otherwise. Thus, scholars and serious journalists should ignore the claims about this artifact.

    Esteemed professionals back both. Peer reviewers vetted both. A respected scientific journal published both.

    How do we resolve this tension?

    Whose arguments should carry the day?

    Our next posts explore this.

    Now some questions:

    Do you think different standards should apply to these situations:

    • A scholar presents evidence that contradicts an academic premise.
    • He or she declares a disproval of that premise.

    If so, what should those standards be?

    Let me know in the comments section below.

    Thank you for engaging this topic with me thus far!

    The next post I entitle: “Between WWN, Sun, and Earth.”

    Join me there.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “Between WWN, Sun, and Earth“

    Dinner-bouquet-option
  • “TMT”, “You Will Die!”

    “TMT”, “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.

    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.

    Photo by Castorly Stock on Pexels.com

    Photo by Jithin Mathew on Pexels.com

    Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

    To see photos and drawings of each, click:

    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.

    We have learned seven 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!


    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    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 are questions. How do you suppose children master the complexities of language? Why does it seem easy for them?

    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.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “A Refutation?“

    Dinner-bouquet-option
  • “YHW”, “Yahweh!”

    “YHW”, “Yahweh!”

    The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

    Photo Study III

    [Post nineteen of thirty]

    “ARWR”, that is, “cursed,” I reviewed in my last post.

    I turn now to the divine name–“Yahweh”.

    Note

    This is the nineteenth post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

    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.

    Galil alleges that this sacred name appears twice inside the tablet.

    For simplicity, I discuss only one of those here. That one I call “Upper Yahweh” because it lies near the top of the tablet.

    Galil’s annotated Table 7 labels it as #’s: 11, 12, and 13.

    The phonetic spelling is thus “Yod,” “He,” “Waw”. 1

    M- beach-towel's-Egyptian-hieroglyphic-immulates-proto-alphabetic-"Yod".

    My beach towel’s Egyptian hieroglyphic imitates proto-alphabetic “Yod”.
    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    Here is what they look like:

    The photos of “He” in Figure 7 #12 at Table 3 (1a & b), and “Waw”, Figure 7 #13 at Table 4 (1a & b) are distinct.

    “Yod” in Figure 7 #11 at Table 5 (1a & b), however, is faint.

    Other views include:

    • Stripling’s Figure 4 showing:
      • The hand under the hips of “Heh”;
      • The thumb under and intertwined with “Taw”;
      • The wrist and forearm below the left leg of “Heh”; and
      • The upper arm extends at a right angle from “Heh’s” left ankle.
    • Haughwout’s Figure 5 gives a mirrored view.

    Study Table 10, photo # 3. The Stripling team argues that this depicts the bottom bulge of this “Yod”.

    Do you agree?

    If you do, this has consequences–ones to which even Haughwout, the sceptic, agrees. It is this: the bottom bulge indicates an incision or mark on the inner surface. It rules out a photographic lighting issue or a computer glitch.

    That concludes my review of the two words that compel Stripling’s conclusions. That is “ARWR” and “YHW.”

    What did I tell you? That was not hard.

    However, read these sections a couple of times. Let the photos sink in.

    With the following post, I complete an initial dive into the tablet’s photos. There, I look at a word and two other letters relevant to Haughwout’s arguments.

    Later, however, I delve deeper into the words and symbols mentioned above. This I do as I test a skeptic’s views.

    Now for a question: What impact do the bottom bulges have on your assessment of Stripling’s claims?

    Let me know your answer in the comments section below.

    Thank you for engaging this topic with me thus far!

    Our next post examines the tablet’s alleged word “TMT”, meaning “You Will Die!”

    Join me there.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “TMT,” “You Will Die!“

    Dinner-bouquet-option /
    1. Associates for Biblical Research, YaHWeh Curse Tablet: A Tsunami from Mt. Ebal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU5njOpRCHQ&t=85s, (39:14) 1 November 2024 ↩︎
    2. Id. at (36:55). ↩︎
    3. Id. at 37:17. ↩︎
  • “ARWR”, “Cursed!”

    “ARWR”, “Cursed!”

    The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

    Photo Study II

    [Post eighteen of thirty]

    Here we examine the first of our Curse Tablet photos.

    From tomographic scans, we assess the presence of an intimidating word, namely “ARWR” or “cursed”. This is one of the two words fundamental to Stripling’s conclusion.

    Note

    This is the eighteenth post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

    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.

    “ARWR” Gershon Galil identified six times on the tablet’s inner face. Of these, we will focus on only one.

    (Afterwards, click on underscores to link photos, charts, etc.)

    Figure 7 of the article shows Galil’s drawings of the tablet’s inner symbols.

    Our word on the annotated drawing is numbers 25 through 28.

    Galil argues that”ARWR’s” proto-alphabetic spelling consisted of four letters. They are”Aleph”; “Resh”; “Wah”; and “Resh”.

    Here is what those characters look like:


    “Aleph”

    Photo by Steward Masweneng on Pexels.com
    Photo by Rodrigo Menezes on Pexels.com

    Photo by Steve A Johnson on Pexels.com
    • “Aleph” looks like an ox’s skull;
    • “Resh” often resembles a rhombus. Sometimes, though, it has a tail, making it resemble a kite.
    • “One can confuse Waw” and “Resh”. But “Waw” replicates a mace, an ancient weapon consisting of a heavy object fastened to a handle. A combatant used it to bash an enemy’s skull, bones, and armor. It can also be an ornate symbol of authority.
    Photo by Kureng Workx on Pexels.com

    Tables 2 through 9 of Stripling’s article show tomographic scans of tablet’s letters. Next to each is the Stripling team’s replicating drawing.

    To study our “ARWR,” do as follows:

    Note that the photos of Tables 2-9 mirror drawings in Figure 7. In other words, you must view one in a mirror for them to correspond. Otherwise, they appear backwards.

    Now see Table 10. It reveals several photos of “Outer B”, the tablet’s bottom.

    Photo # 8 in Table 10 shows a protrusion. Stripling’s team identifies this as the negative of our first “Resh”-Figure 7 #26 and Table 8 (2a and b).

    Do you agree?

    Note that the photo of this “resh” slants right while the photo of the negative slants left. Is this what one would expect of a negative?

    This concludes my presentation about our first word, “ARWR”/”Cursed”.

    Did you find this easy?

    Still, ponder this post with care.

    Read it several times while also viewing the linked photos and drawings. Let it sink in!

    Here is another question. Do the Stripling team’s drawings of our “ARWR” reflect the tomographic scans?

    Let me know in the comment section below.

    Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

    In our next post, we turn to the supreme name, that of the Hebrew God.

    I look forward to continuing with you there.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “YHW,” “Yahweh!”

    Dinner-bouquet-option
  • Stripling’s Article

    Stripling’s Article

    The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

    Photo Study I

    [Post seventeen of thirty]

    Heritage Science finally published its article about the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet on 12 May 2023. Since Stripling’s press conference, twelve months had passed. Since the tablet’s discovery, it had been three and a half years.

    Much of the world, of course, anticipated one feature.



    Photo by Annushka Ahuja on Pexels.com

    Likely, you also think, “Show us the photos, please!”

    Before I turn to those, however, there are four important observations to make.

    Note

    This is the seventeenth post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

    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.

    Observation One

    The article’s conclusion states the core of the Stripling team’s argument. With it, they assault the documentary hypothesis.


    Licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

    The article’s body states the ideas Stripling’s team considered. Only with the conclusion, however, does Stripling dig in his boots. There, he states what about the tablet belies the idea that Moses could not have authored the Torah.

    The article, for example, credits team member Professor Gershon Galil. He is Director of the Institute of Biblical and Ancient History at the University of Haifa. It was he who deciphered most of the tablet’s interior face.

    Gallil’s premises the article elucidates. It cites his increased letter count. From the forty declared at the press conference, he went to forty-eight at publication. 1The article also acknowledges his modified chiasmus.

    Yet, note a crucial point. The article’s conclusion leaves many, if not most, of Galil’s premises orphaned. Many are not embraced there. For example, it neither adopts nor rejects his accounting of tablet letters. The same applies to his full chiasmus interpretation.

    Instead, it concludes that the tablet’s inscription challenges history for truncated reasons. Those include:

    • The tablet displays in proto-alphabetic script the word “YHW”, the name of the Hebrew God;
    • From this we know that a Hebrew inscribed the tablet sometime before 1250 B. C.;
    • Additionally, the tablet contains the word “ARWR” or “cursed”;
    • These tablet words recall events described in Deuteronomy and The Book of Joshua;
    • Thus, this artifact challenges the historical paradigm.

    The note immediately following the conclusion is telling. It addresses Galil’s allegiance to his premises. It announces that, in effect, he desires to “plant his intellectual flag” on his specific tablet reading. 2

    A more conservative approach, however, Stripling adopted. 3

    Following publication, note that Galil and Stripling ended their affiliation on amicable terms.

    What are the consequences for our study?

    For us, Stripling has simplified our original question, “Is there anything to see here?”

    Stripling’s team answers with a resounding, “Yes!” They point to the two words inside this artifact. There you find the ancient Hebrew ‘cursed’ and ‘Yahweh’. They alone with the tablet’s setting challenge world history!

    This makes our photo study easier.

    From Stripling’s perspective, we can focus on photos relevant to two words. The other words of Galil’s chiasmus are an important conjecture. But they are not crucial to Stripling’s conclusion.

    Observation Two

    Our purpose is not only to review the Stripling article and its photos. We also seek to study an article that attempts to refute Stripling’s case.

    That article considers the alleged Hebrew words for “cursed” and “Yahweh”.

    Additionally, it makes other relevant arguments. These involve two individual tablet characters and the Hebrew word for “You will die!”

    I also include these in our study.

    Observation Three

    In the proto-alphabetic era, writing traced boustrophedon paths.4 Then there was no standardized script. Instead, letters tracked as oxen plow. Consider how an inexperienced pre-teen might push a lawnmower over your yard. or someone older, inebriated.

    Photo by Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz on Pexels.com

    Observation Four

    Many of these inscriptions are very small. How small? Some could fit inside a wedding band or even on the side of a penny.

    Some-tablet-letters-would-fit inside-a-wedding-band

    A wedding band could house tablet letters.

    Photo by Ku00e1ssia Melo on Pexels.com

    With these four observations, I conclude my remarks pre-photo study.

    Photos!

    Ready now for some tomographic scans?

    “Cursed! “, our next post declares.

    Still ready?

    Until then, here are some questions. Which aspects of early writing likely took the longest to standardize? Who most likely prompted or enforced such standardizations?

    Let me know below in “comments”.

    Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

    The next post examines”ARWR” photos.

    I look forward to continuing with you there.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “ARWR,” Cursed!

    1. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (16:33), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
    2. 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, paragraph 84.
      and
      Associates for Biblical Research, YaHWeh Curse Tablet: A Tsunami from Mt. Ebal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU5njOpRCHQ&t=85s, (36:17) 1 November 2024. ↩︎
    3. Id. at 36:20. ↩︎
    4. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (16:39), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
    Dinner-bouquet-option
  • Troubled Waters

    Troubled Waters

    The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

    History X

    [Post sixteen of thirty]

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

    How was that Heritage Science article received?

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

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

    Here, though, I recall the context of these days. Significant currents darkened the times. That is from the retrieval of the tablet through and beyond publication.

    Of these, three particularly warrant recounting.

    Note

    This is the sixteenth post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

    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.

    Pandemic

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

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

    The date is December 12, 2019. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention records 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 Israel 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.”

    This, he issued in response to a Palestinian news report. That regarded planned construction in the vicinity of 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 alleged tomb of Joseph being fire-bombed. (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. Those 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. Many descend from generations of local residents. This would especially agrieve them.

    Of what these Israeli military escorts consist, I cannot relate. Of what, however, an American equal would consist, I can envision. Vehicles arrive armed with 50 caliber machine guns, 240 Bravos, or 249 SAWS. Infantrymen clad in full armor climb to elevated positions. A defensive cordon restricts unvetted civilians from entering the area.

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

    One can also perceive the necessity of these escort measures.

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

    October 7, 2023

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


    Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

    Whether one labels Israel’s response “hard”, “harsh,” or “brutal” is not the question. Hard, harsh, and brutal 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.

    Even so, two things can be true. There can be no excuse for violations of the law of war. One should also not forget the horror which 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.

    This noted, let us now bridge these troubled waters.

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

    Now for some questions. Do you remember first hearing about COVID-19? Are you aware that in 1918, a similar flu likely originated near Ft Riley, Kansas? That one, in short order, killed between twenty and a hundred million people worldwide. Plus, 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!

    The next post, entitled “Stripling’s Article”, introduces our Curse Tablet’s photo study.

    I look forward to continuing with you there.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “Stripling’s Article“


    Dinner-bouquet-option

    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. ↩︎
  • Peer Review

    Peer Review

    The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

    History IX

    [Post fifteen of thirty]

    Despite the brouhaha about his Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet press conference, Stripling pressed on.

    The next step was to compile the data — archaeological, digital, photographic, and epigraphic. They would then submit a paper to a peer-reviewed journal.

    Note

    This is the fifteenth post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

    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.

    Which journal did Stripling petition?

    He chose Heritage Science. 1 Why? He wanted one esteemed especially by the scientific community.2 The interpretation of this find required complex computer and tomographic analysis. Also, it required archaeological and epigraphic expertise. A respected scientific journal, he felt, was most appropriate.1

    After Stripling’s team submitted their completed paper, the journal approached three specialists. These it determined to have appropriate backgrounds to test the material.3

    The three then assessed the presentation’s credibility and identified where it needed strengthening. They then drafted questions, etc.

    Stripling welcomed the reviewers’ initial verdicts and questions.

    Two of these gave glowing approval. The other reflected considerable disdain and, in fact, suggested possible criminality.4

    All three, however, praised the quality of the writing and scholarship. They all had many questions. Seventy-two requests for modifications or clarifications followed.

    To these, Stripling and his team responded.

    Afterwards, the glowing remarks from the two favorable reviewers continued. They recommended that the journal publish the edited paper.

    After receiving the Stripling team’s responses, the dissenting panel member’s negativity softened. Likely this resulted from legal clarifications by relevant authorities–Palestinian and Israeli. He or she recommended the paper’s publication. 5

    (Note that Heritage Science has not released the names of the peer reviewers.) 6

    The journal decided to publish the Stripling team’s article. 7

    That publication I will soon examine.

    In the next post, however, I will put the events of these days into perspective. Following that, I will return to Stripling’s article.

    Here is a question. In an interview by Sean McDowell, Dr. Stripling states, ” The goal of archaeology is not excavation. It’s publication!”8 Why do you think this is true?

    Let me know below in “comments”.

    Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

    The next post, the tenth of our review of the Curse Tablet’s history, I entitle: “Troubled Waters”.

    I look forward to continuing with you there.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

    Next post: “Troubled Waters“

    1. Melanie Lidman, Academic article on controversial 3,200-year –old ‘curse tablet’ fails to sway experts, The Times of Israel,14 May 2023, paragraph 3,  https://www.timesofisrael.com/academic-article-on-controversial-3200-year-old-curse-tablet-fails-to-sway-experts/, (7 October 2024). ↩︎
    2. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (25:25), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
    3. Id. at (25:35) ↩︎
    4. Id. at (40:00) ↩︎
    5. Id. at (39:09) ↩︎
    6. Id. at (36:40) ↩︎
    7. Id. at (39:13) ↩︎
    8. Id. at (43:38 ↩︎
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  • A Firestorm!

    A Firestorm!

    The Mt Ebal Curse Tablet

    History VIII

    [Post fourteen of thirty]

    Why the intense scorn about Stripling’s pronouncement about the Curse Tablet?

    The archaeological community acknowledged a procedure. It discouraged reporting a find until after it has completed peer review. This Stripling admitted to violating.

    Note

    This is the fourteenth post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

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

    Otherwise, proceed below.

    About this infraction, Stripling explained that he had feared losing his intellectual stake. He thus felt compelled, despite protocol, to release what he had.

    Unfortunately, this happened in the wake of another archaeology embarrassment. This had heightened sensitivity about procedures.1

    The Israel Antiquities Authority had publicized its analysis of a Tel Lachish sherd. Their news release heralded it as a first. No written reference in Israel before had mentioned Darius the Great. This Persian King lived about 2500 years ago.2

    Tomb-of-Darius-the-Great

    The tomb of Darius the Great (550 B.C. to 486 B.C.) at Naqsh-e-Rustam
    The site lies northwest of ancient Persepolis, 30 miles (50 km) northeast of modern Shiraz, Iran.

    Photo by Nursel Kaya on Pexels.com
    Ruins-of-Persepolis

    Ruins of Persepolis, a city founded by Darius the Great

    Photo by Masih Shahbazi on Pexels.com

    Shortly afterwards, however, a researcher specializing in ancient Aramaic confessed. She had written the inscription.

    While visiting the site with her students, she had demonstrated the ancient script on a sherd. On finishing her lesson, she had tossed it aside, not intending any malice.1

    What she had demonstrated turned out to be accurate. So much so that it fools many renowned scholars.

    Mortification ensued across prestigious academic communities.

    Into that setting, Stripling’s dilemma landed.2

    This outraged many scholars. He had declared a history-challenging find underpinned by photos. Not only had he not navigated peer review. He had not released his photos for academic scrutiny. This handicapped their vetting of the allied fantastic claims.

    A firestorm had been lit!

    Now here are some questions. Is the protocol of not releasing information about a find until after peer review a good policy? Why or why not?

    Let me know in the comments.

    Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

    The next post, the ninth of our review of the Curse Tablet’s history, I entitle “Peer Review”.

    I look forward to continuing with you there.

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “Peer Review“

    Dinner-bouquet-option
  • Staking a Claim

    Staking a Claim

    The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

    History VII

    [Post thirteen of thirty]

    The Czech Institute’s data continued to prove a font of revelation.

    From the tomographic scans, Stripling’s epigraphers discerned words.

    Note

    This is the thirteenth post of my memorandum on the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet.

    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.

    These included “Yahweh” and “cursed”. Both recall Joshua’s ceremony of blessings and curses on Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal.

    Dr. Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa added further. He decoded a sophisticated parallelism, a chiasmus.1

    This literary device you will find throughout the Old and New Testaments. Consider, for example, Luke 4:16b-20 “The Favorable Year of the Lord”. Note below the parallel and inverse wordings with a central focus:

    14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. 15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. 16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as was His custom,

    He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath,

    and stood up to read,

    17 And the book of the prophet

    Isaiah was handed to Him,

    And He opened the book and

    found the place

    where it was written,

    18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me

    Because He anointed Me to

    preach the gospel to the poor.

    He has sent Me to proclaim

    release / to the captives,

    And recovery of sight to the blind,

    To set free / those who

    are oppressed,

    19 To proclaim the

    favorable year of the Lord”

    20 And He closed the book,

    gave it back to the attendant

    and sat down

    and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

    21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”2


    Christ Preaching / Healing

    National Gallery of Art
    Licensed under CC-CC0 1.0
    Recovery-of-sight-to-the-blind

    Recovery of sight to the blind

    How could Stripling be anything but gobsmacked?

    Even so, as a professional, he was aware that a find of this importance required cautious handling.

    He was a renowned archaeologist. He had decades of Holy Land field experience at preeminent sites.

    The profound nature of this find marked it. It would cause a stir. Intense international scrutiny lay on the horizon.

    He needed to be careful! 3

    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    But life threw Stripling a curveball, mandating a different approach.4

    Speculation circulated about the tablet photo that Stripling had emailed earlier. The associate had forwarded it. Recipients began generating noise online. Some pondered the outer tablet’s glyphs. Could they be a script?5

    This alarmed Stripling. Others might lay academic claim to the tablet’s message, he thought. He thus deemed it necessary to go public. Otherwise, he risked forfeiting his claim as the lead 2 of the discovering team. 6

    A press conference ensued in March 2022.7 At it, Stripling and his team announced the following:

    • The lead defixio found by his team contained archaic proto-alphabetic script;
    • From forty letters, the Hebrew name for God appears twice and the word “cursed” ten times;
    • The tablet dates to the late Bronze Age, making it two to four hundred years older than any other known Hebrew text.
    • A reading may be a chiasmus, a literary form employed in both the Old and New Testaments.
    • That proposed reading was:

    Cursed, cursed, cursed-cursed by the God YHW
    You will die cursed.
    Cursed you will surely die.
    Cursed by YHW-cursed, cursed, cursed!

    (Mt. Ebal “Curse Tablet” Full Press Conference, YouTube, Appian Media, March 29, 2022)

    Afterwards, public elation and scorn followed.

    Why scorn?

    In our next post, entitled “A Firestorm”, I address this.

    I look forward to continuing with you there.

    Now here is a question. What is your favorite chiasmus, scriptural or otherwise?

    Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

    If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

    To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

    Next post: “A Firestorm!“

    1. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (17:08), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
    2. L. J. Hooge, “The Favorable Year of the Lord”, Biblical Chiasmus, Discovering and Exploring Reverse Parallelism in the Bible, https://biblicalchiasmus.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/luke-416b-20-the-favorable-year-of-the-lord/, August 3, 2014, ↩︎

    3. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (25:00), 11 May 2023. ↩︎
    4. Id. at (42:24) ↩︎
    5. Id. at (42:52) ↩︎
    6. Id. at (43:00) ↩︎
    7. Id. at (43:08) ↩︎
    Dinner-bouquet-option