Who are you Yerubael? The man is mentioned in a 3,100-year-old inscription discovered near Kiryat Gat, in excavations by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Antiquities Authority and Macquarie University in Sydney * According to the archaeologists, "Judge Gideon ben Yoash's nickname in the Bible was Jerubael, but it is not known if the vessel on which the inscription was written in ink belonged to him."
For the first time: an inscription from the days of the Judges, which refers to the Book of Judges, was discovered in an archaeological dig in the ruins of El-Ra'i, near Kiryat Gat. The rare inscription bears the name "Jerubael" in the alphabet, and dates to around 1,100 BC. It was written in ink on a pottery vessel, and was found inside a storage silo that was dug into the ground, and was lined with stones.
Excavations at the site, located in the Shaharia Forest of the National Fund for Israel, have been conducted every year since 2015, and now the seventh season of excavations is being held there. The excavations are being conducted on behalf of the Institute of Archeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Antiquities Authority, and McQuarrie University in Sydney, Australia, under the direction of Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, Sa'ar Ganor, Dr. Kyle Keimer and Dr. Gil Davis. The research was supported by Joey Silver, Aaron Levy, the Ruth Family Foundation of Sydney, and the Roger and Susan Hartog Center for Archaeology, at the Institute of Archeology at the Hebrew University.
The address was written in ink on a pen - a small personal vessel made of clay, with a volume of about 1 liter, which could contain an expensive product such as oil, perfume or medicine. It seems that - similar to today, the owner of the vessel wrote his name on the vessel, so that they would know that it belonged to him.
The inscription was deciphered by epigrapher Prof. Christopher Rolston of George Washington University in Washington DC. In the inscription you can clearly see the letters Yod (broken in the upper part), Rish, Beit, Ein, Lemad, and the remains of other letters, which indicate that the inscription was longer.
According to Prof. Garfinkel and Ganor, "The name Jeroboal is known in the biblical tradition in the book of Judges, as the second name of the judge Gideon ben Yoash. First, Gideon is mentioned as the one who fought idolatry and as the one who broke the altar of Baal and cut the Ashra. After that, he is remembered in the biblical tradition as the one who fought the Midianites who came from beyond the Jordan, and used to plunder the crops of the farmers, according to the scripture, Gideon He organized himself with a limited army of 300 men and attacked the Midianites at night in the Ma'ayan Harod area, given the geographical distance
Between the lowland and the Jezreel valley, it is possible that another Jerubael is mentioned in the inscription, and not Gideon of the biblical tradition, so the possibility that the vessel belonged to Gideon the judge cannot be ruled out. In any case, it appears that the name Yerubael reflects a reality from the days of the judges, in which this name was accepted."
Inscriptions from the period of the judges are extremely rare, and almost none of them are found in the archeology of the Land of Israel. A few inscriptions that were uncovered in the past carried several letters, which could not be linked. This is the first time that the name Yerubael has been found as an archaeological find outside of the Bible - in an archaeological layer, dating from around 1100 BC, the days of the judges.
"As we know, there are great debates as to whether the biblical tradition reflects reality and is faithful to historical memories from the days of the judges and the days of David," say the researchers. "The name Jeroboal appears in the biblical tradition only during the time of the judges, and now it has also been revealed in the archaeological find, in a layer from the time of the judges. Similarly, the name Ishbaal appears in the biblical tradition only in the days of King David, and it is found
In the excavations of the Caiaphas ruins at the site from the time of King David. The identity of the names of the people in the Bible and in the inscriptions discovered in archaeological excavations indicates the preservation of a memory passed down from generation to generation."
The Yerubael inscription also contributes to understanding the spread of the alphabet In the transition from the Canaanite period to the Israelite period. The alphabet was developed by the Canaanites under Egyptian influence around 1,800 BCE, during the Middle Bronze Age. In the Late Bronze Age, in the years 1,150-1,550, only a few inscriptions are known in the Land of Israel, most of which were discovered at Tel Lachish, near the modern-day Moshav Lachish. The Canaanite city of Lachish was the center where tradition existed and was preserved The writing of the alphabet. Canaanite Lachish was destroyed around 1,150 BC, and remained desolate for about 200 years. Therefore, it was not clear until now where the tradition of writing in the alphabet was preserved after the destruction of Lachish.
The revealed inscription indicates that in the ruin of El Ra'i, which was located about 4 km from Lachish, and which was the main site in the area during the period of the judges, the tradition of writing was preserved, in the transition from the Canaanite culture to the period of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
During the period of the monarchy, from the 10th century BC, additional inscriptions are known in the lowland region: two inscriptions from the ruins of Kiapha, and inscriptions at the Tel Tzfit and Tel Beit Shemesh sites.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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The truth is I agree with the opinions of the writers before here, only adding that this is another reinforcement that the Tanakh and the Torah have documented and the fact is that we find more and more signs that prove that the land belongs to the Jews. And all the written history see Tanach and Torah that everything is true
I agree with my predecessor and add that the inscription was found in a layer from 1100, but I did not see that the pottery itself was dated...
The address is certainly interesting. The connection between the inscription and Jeroboal/Gideon definitely raises questions of identity. However, the associating "Baali" with the name of the owner of the pottery and assuming that it is the biblical Gideon proves once again the pagan connection between the heroes of the Bible and the polytheistic beliefs that were prevalent in the region at the time and indeed fits combinations such as Ashbaal and others.