Mount Ebal “Curse Tablet” revealed last week was probably procured illegally from Area B of West Bank
Claims to have found a 3,200 year-old “Curse Tablet” at the site of Mount Ebal/el Burnat near Nablus last week constitute a record low in the sacrifice of archaeological standards to serve a religious and political agenda. * The site of Mount Ebal is in Area B of the West Bank. There is cause to believe that the artifact was extracted from the site in 2019 in contravention of international law and in violation of the Oslo Accords. * The procurement and promotion of the artifact is a result of ongoing cooperation between the settlers, the Civil Administration and Christian evangelicals
In a press conference last week, a Texan evangelical Christian who has been leading biblically-oriented excavation teams to sites in the West Bank and Jordan claimed to have found a “curse tablet” with Proto-Hebrew writing, constituting the oldest Hebrew text found in the country and containing a mention of the name of God. The 2 cm x 2 cm artifact said to be a folded lead tablet with writing on the interior as well as on the exterior was presented by Scott Stripling, Director of Excavations for Associated Biblical Research (ABR), a Christian ministry dedicated to demonstrating the historical reliability of the bible through archaeology. He and a team, which includes Israeli researchers, claim the epigraphic analysis and special scanning procedures date the find to the Late Bronze – Iron I Ages when Mount Ebal was a regional Israelite ritual site.
Stripling and colleagues claim the artifact was found through the wet sifting of debris left over at the site from an excavation undertaken in the 1980s. Today Mount Ebal is situated within Area B, which according to the Oslo Accords falls under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority. As far as we know the Palestinian Authority had not issued an excavation license. We have evidence which clearly suggests that the artifact was removed from the site in December 2019 without license, in contravention of international law and in complete disregard for acceptable archaeological standards.
The site of Mount Ebal (el-Burnat) is located north of Nablus at the top of a mountain peak between the village of A-Sira a-Shamaliya and the Balata refugee camp. It was studied by Israeli archaeologist Adam Zertal in the 1980’s who concluded that the structure at the site is an altar dated to the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age period and that it could be identified with the altar built by Joshua as described in the Book of Joshua 8: 30-35. A majority of archaeologists claim that the research evidence does not necessarily support the theory that the site was an altar and certainly
Emek Shaveh’s response: That Christian evangelicals and the Jewish settlers in the West Bank share a passion for archaeology through the prism of the biblical account is not surprising. What should be of concern to everyone is the apparent complicity of the Israeli authorities who enabled the removal of materials in an unlicensed, unprofessional excavation from a site under Palestinian jurisdiction. The Israel Antiquities Authority and the Civil Administration cannot turn a blind eye to this blatant disregard of any professional standard and violation of the laws and agreements that apply to this site.
Scott Stripling with Yossi Dagan, Head of Shomron Regional Council, photo from facebook page of the Shomron Council Spokesperson
cannot substantiate the existence of biblical figures from this period. However, the settlers, keen to solidify their control over the West Bank, have reiterated Zertal’s identification of the site with Joshua and refer to it as “Joshua’s Altar”.
Evangelical Archaeology
The settlers where the first to adopt Zertal’s interpretation, in keeping with the practice of referring to ancient sites according to the biblical stories associated with them. In recent years, however, Christian evangelicals keen to prove the veracity of the biblical account through archaeology have been excavating key sites in the West Bank. For several years until 2016 the ABR team excavated a site called Khirbet Maqatir on private land belonging to the Palestinians of the village of Deir Dibwan. It was only after the village council approached the excavators to inquire why permission was not sought that the excavations were stopped. Since 2017, Stripling has been leading delegations to excavate at Tel Shiloh associated with the site of the ancient biblical Tabernacle.
In recent years right-wing organizations such as Guardians of Eternity and the Shiloh Forum have spearheaded a campaign aimed to bring greater Israeli control to ancient sites throughout the West Bank, including sites in areas B and A. The “discovery” of the tablet dovetails a two-year campaign by settlers to bring Mount Ebal under Israeli control, citing the threat of destruction by Palestinians as the reason.
Emek Shaveh’s response: That Christian evangelicals and the Jewish settlers in the West Bank share a passion for archaeology through the prism of the biblical account is not surprising. What should be of concern to everyone is the apparent complicity of the Israeli authorities who enabled the removal of materials in an unlicensed, unprofessional excavation from a site under Palestinian jurisdiction. The Israel Antiquities Authority and the Civil Administration cannot turn a blind eye to this blatant disregard of any professional standard and violation of the laws and agreements that apply to this site.