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The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

Preface I

[Post two of thirty]

For one, this story enthralls me.

While it is set in this galaxy, even this planet, the adventure starts a long, long time ago. It is far before Caesar, Hannibal, or Alexander. Imagine three hundred years before Phillip of Macedonia’s legendary son and his horse, Bucephalus. There, you find the mysterious Greek sage, Homer, spinning his supernatural-laced tales of half a millennium before his time. Still, our saga begins a century, if not three, before those storied events. That is before Achilles’ epic feats, the Battle of Troy, and Odysseus’ journey home.

Note

This is the second post of my memorandum about 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.

Alexander and Bucephalus, Battle of Issus, 333 B.C.

Plus,is a story about writing by people considered unable to do so. By that I mean unable to write in a way that you or I would find understandable. That is, without extensive training in things like hieroglyphics or cuneiform. No, you can read this after only a short lesson in the alphabet and vocabulary. You can imagine it almost as a news feed on your phone.

Well, I have to walk that back a bit. We would have to account for the boustrophedon track. Some ambiguity that adds to the message without blurring its gist. I will explain this later.

Still, this is about us reading the thoughts of someone thirty-five hundred years ago.

But it goes beyond that. The inscription seems to detail events and personages we know. These, many believed, were the stuff of mythology. They are Moses, Joshua, and the Hebrews of the Conquest.

Further, this involves a fascinating epigraphic puzzle. Challenging questions include:

• Are marks on the tablet coincidental glyphs or human-inscribed symbols?;
• Do the symbols constitute writing?;
• Could they be phonetic letters?;
• To what people, time, and language do they belong?;
• In what sequence should they be read?;
• Do the letters coalesce into words?;
• If so, in what sequence should they be interpreted?; and
• What is the message?

With this puzzle, Royal Match, Candy Crush, or Rubik’s Cube cannot compete. It far exceeds such in complexity and consequence.

Yet, beyond my interest, there is another, more compelling reason for my writing.

It is this: A tragedy impends. Of such, I needed to alert and offer aid to avoid.

Later, I will explain this further.

Now, a question: What would you like to learn from a news feed from thirty-five hundred years ago? Let me know in your comments.

Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

In our next post, we address “Why the Fuss?”

I look forward to continuing with you there.

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Next post: “Why the Fuss?“

The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

Foreword

{Post one of thirty}

We should give Moses, Joshua, and the Hebrews of the Conquest a chance to prove who they really are! We must excavate now “Joshua’s Altar”, the origin of the Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet!.

This site in northern Judea/Samaria has lain exposed and unprotected for forty years. Yet, it may harbor some of history’s greatest archaeological artifacts.

Note

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

If you have not arrived at this topic via captivatingtwists.com and wish to read the entire memorandum in sequence, click here.

Otherwise, continue below.

My name is Ernie Vallery. I am a retired Louisiana attorney living in South Coast, Massachusetts.

Claims about the Curse Tablet counter an entrenched historical premise. Generations of scholars have said that Moses could not have written the Torah. Scripture attests otherwise. So may the tablet.

This memorandum grapples with an element of this issue.

Between the two sides, tensions exist. One says that minuscule evidence underpins the tablet’s claims. Thus, archaeologists should spend no further resources on excavating Joshua’s Altar.

The other side retorts that ample evidence supports excavating now. Dire consequences can flow from not doing so. These can jeopardize mankind’s proper understanding of history, philosophy, law, politics, and more.

Our problem is how to resolve, in part, this tension.

My answer is that we apply a legal standard such as the one used in summary judgment.

Legal summary judgment and the decision that we seek are alike in two ways. Both seek to resolve tensions early in a deliberative process. Both also involve important competing interests.

In summary judgment, the competing interests are judicial economy and due process.

Likewise, here interests compete. One side seeks to ensure that resources are not wasted on a frivolous archaeological claim. The other desires to safeguard precious archaeological evidence.

Given the similarity between summary judgment and our matter, a like rule should apply to both.

In this matter, I thus apply a rule like that used for summary judgment in U.S. federal courts.

The result is my plea. I encourage regional and international actors to stir. Probe further into the tablet and Joshua’s Altar. Spend the necessary financial, political, and other considerations.

Why? Enough evidence supports the Curse Tablet’s claims.

In 2019, an archaeological team found this tiny piece of lead in northern Judea / Samaria.

Today, in academic circles, that tiny object causes great consternation. Some scholars declare it the archaeological find of the 21st century. Others say: “There is nothing to see here!”

The debate I do not seek to resolve.

Instead, I argue for something less, yet necessary.

It is that Joshua’s Altar and the Curse Tablet deserve a chance to prove what they might be. That is, that they are consequences of the words and actions of Moses, Joshua, and the Hebrews of the Conquest.

In other words, the exigent evidence I find warrants:

• Immediate international protection of the proposed Altar; and
• Public and governmental support for its thorough archaeological excavations.

This argument raises necessary questions that I should address at the beginning. Before launching into the matter’s heart, I thus present these three prefacing posts:

• Why Write This?
• Why the Fuss? and
• Why Me?

Two introductory posts follow. The first seeks to arm readers for a 3,500-year journey that this matter invokes. The second attempts to wet enthusiasm for that trip.

Those posts are:

• Journey Essentials and
• A Mysterious Tease

Afterwards comes the main body.

The table of contents is thus:

• Foreword (This post)
• Preface (Posts 2 through 4)
• Introduction (5 and 6)
• History (7 through 16)
• Photo Study (17 through 20)
• Opposing Voices (21 through 22)
• Dissecting the Arguments (23 through 28)
• Conclusion (29) and
• Supplemental Material (30+).

It seems a lot! But it should not intimidate. Hang with the story. Then this consequential topic becomes easy, much like witnessing a cascade of dominoes!

Here is a question. What present historical issues compare to those explored in this memorandum? Let me know in the “comments”.

Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

The next post addresses: “Why Write This?”

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: “Why Write This?“