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Re: Tablets found in Israel? (fwd)
>I a reposting the article re Hazor found in sci.archaeology -
>
>
> HAZOR NATIONAL PARK, Israel (AP) _ Multiplication tables
>inscribed on a chip of reddish clay more than 3,000 years old may
>be the tip of a treasure trove of documents describing life in the
>times of the biblical patriarchs.
<snip>
> Ben-Tor believes there also is a second, earlier palace at the
>site, and a royal archive to go with each. He hopes the archives
>will be found as soon as next year.
> A tablet found earlier at the site indicates there was a school
>for scribes in Hazor, Ben-Tor said, increasing the likelihood there
>was an archive there as well.
> In addition to the multiplication tables, archaeologists found a
>tablet inscribed with a list of goods sent from Hazor to Mari, a
>major Canaanite city in Babylon dating from the 18th century B.C.
> The list represents the first time the name Hazor has been found
>in an inscription at the site, confirming its biblical
>identification.
> Two other tablets, dating from around the 14th century B.C.,
>show a commercial list and a legal document in which, according to
>Ben-Tor, ``A tells B that C is a liar.''
<snip>
I find this article rather confusing. The Mari tablet has been well known for years. There were also at least four other tablet fragments from Hazor published in IEJ, two in 1977 and two in 1992. All of these seem to be dated to the Old Babylonian period, so perhaps the multiplication table, commercial list, and legal document are new finds. Can anyone in Israel ask Ben-Tor about it?
Not that it has anything to do with the subject of this list. :-)