History V
[Ebal’s Plea, eleven of thirty-two]
What landed in Snyder’s tray she quickly identified as a defixio, an ancient curse tablet.1
Likewise Stripling and many of their experienced associates concurred. Why? These they had often seen. From the Greco-Roman world they are relatively common archaeological finds.2
Nevertheless, they also recognized the irony of finding one on Deuteronomy’s “Mountain of Curses.”
Stripling immediately recognized too that at this site a defixio posed a problem. Zertal had dated the altar site from 1400 to 1250 B.C. This he had concluded from careful pottery analysis. Contrarily, Stripling knew that defixios commonly dated to the Greek and Roman eras, primarily fourth and third centuries B. C. forward. A defixio seemed inappropriate by around a millennium.3
He, however, was aware of a possible precedent.
The Book of Job speaks of Job’s desire to write on lead with an iron pen (Job 19:24).
That book many scholars peg as the oldest biblical text. One reason is that it does not allude to the Law of Moses.4

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Maybe the defixio concept sprang from that or a similar exceedingly ancient tradition.
Might other clues provide insights about this enigma? This our next post explores.
Next post: “An Inscription!”
- Associates for Biblical Research, “ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found”, biblicarchaeology.org/ current-events-list/, Youtube, (06:24), March 24, 2022. ↩︎
- Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (42:34-43:44), 11 May 2023; and
Associates for Biblical Research, “ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found:, biblicarchaeology.org/current-events-list/, Youtube, (11:40; 19:25), March 24, 2022. ↩︎ - Breaking News “Mt Ebal Curse Tablet Peer Review Complete”, Appian Media, In Roads, youtube.com/watch?v=_15tYO4hqJS, (26:08), May 12, 2023. ↩︎
- Id. (10:30). ↩︎
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly

Lagniappe Curse Tablet link / Ancient Egypt and the Bible, Joshua’s Altar





