Page 44 - Holyland Magazine - 2023 Edition

events. However, he was intrigued by this We extracted the material and by using
mysterious heap of stones and the surrounding a wet sifting technique, we were able to
enclosure wall. locate findings that Zertal missed. The most
significant artifact we found was a small
Little by little, a structure of uncut stones folded lead tablet. It was sent to a university
emerged with no door, a central ramp leading in Prague for further analysis. The results were
up to it, and secondary ramps on two sides. outstanding!
Around the whole structure are circular
installations with evidence of offerings being Archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling announced
offered. that the tablet contained what is probably the
most ancient Hebrew inscription ever found in
But most importantly, the structure was the Land of Israel. Folded Lead Tablet from Mt. Ebal.
completely filled with layers of charcoaled Photo: Michal C. Ludden
bones, ashes, pieces of plaster, and special The inscription was a curse, written in Hebrew,
vessels buried in the bottom layer. The bones with the name of the Lord engraved on it: Is it possible we found a curse inscription
were analyzed at the Hebrew University and You are Cursed by the God YHW, Cursed. on the mountain of Curses, related to the
the results came in: All the bones belonged You will die Cursed - Cursed you will surely die. ceremony mentioned in the Bible?
to a very specific list of sacrificial animals that Cursed you are by YHW - Cursed.
happen to appear in ….the Bible! They are male For the past ten years, I’ve spoken in numerous
and young….just like the Bible commands. This is probably the most significant inscription churches, synagogues, and Christian TV/radio
ever found in the land of Israel. Is this inscription ministries about how THERE IS archaeological
Zertal tried to find the origin of this mysterious connected to the story of the ceremony of proof for the historicity of the Scriptures.
structure and was not able to find any Blessings and Curses in the Bible? We need to inform and educate the next
architectural parallels in the Canaanite and generation of believers that have faith to have
surrounding cultures. One day an Orthodox Moses commanded the Israelites to conduct this knowledge. Today, thousands of Jews
Jew showed him a sketch of the Second a national ceremony and proclaim the Curses and Christians visit Joshua’s Altar along with
Temple Altar…the similarity was striking. on Mount Ebal and the Blessings on Mount the mysterious Israelite Foot Structures that
Gerizim. Professor Zertal discovered and identified as
Zertal understood that he’d found an Israelite the Biblical Gilgals.
altar on Mt. Ebal. In his book “A Nation Born” “And when the Lord your God brings you
he describes how he looked at the Orthodox into the land that you are entering to take Make sure your next visit to Israel includes
Jew and said, “This has to be the altar that possession of it, you shall set the blessing these important biblical sites. Touch the Land
Joshua built according to the commandment on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount of the Heroes of the Bible and connect with the
of Moses. There is no other possibility. If Ebal.” Deuteronomy 11:29 (ESV) Divine Presence of God.
this is Joshua’s Altar, then Joshua existed,
and Moses existed and the Exodus really
happened..."From then on, Zertal believed in Christian tourists visiting Joshua's Altar
the historicity of the Biblical account.

“..Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God
of Israel, on Mount Ebal, just as Moses the
servant of the Lord had commanded the
people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of
the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones..
” Joshua 8:30-31a (ESV)
In 2019, I was involved in a special expedition of
archaeologists that came to Israel to reanalyze
the archaeological dump from Zertal’s 1980s
excavations.

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