During
the 2009-10 excavations on the Ophel (Eastern Hill of Jerusalem), Eilat Mazar
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered a small fragment of a
cuneiform tablet dated to the Late Bronze Age, roughly 1350 B.C.). The document
was written in Akkadian, a Mesopotamian language akin to biblical Hebrew.
Interestingly, Akkadian was the international language of the time, used by
multiple political powers to correspond to each other. So, why is this important? Well, this
little fragment provides the first direct evidence for the scribal use of
cuneiform at Jerusalem, which can be added to the evidence from other cities in
the region that have recently yielded similar material (Jericho, Hazor,
Shechem, Hebron and Gezer, all widely known biblical cities). Before this
discovery, we knew little about pre-Israelite Jerusalem. Read the complete
article at -- http://lacrossetribune.com/news/opinion/mark-w-chavalas-tablet-fragment-sheds-light-on-history/article_1a1da8a7-f591-502e-9f92-b7ad94791042.html
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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