Unique 3,000-year old Hebrew inscription found near Jerusalem

The name “Ishbaal Ben Bada” came to light after the fragments of a pot found at the Hurvat Kiyafa dig at Emek Ha’Elah – led by the Hebrew University’s Prof. Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor of the Antiquities Authority – had been painstakingly assembled. This and other findings at the site are to be presented to the public Tuesday. The name is found in the Bible in only one period: the reign of King David. Samuel II Ch. 3-4 refers to Ishbaal (identified as Ish-Boshet) as David’s rival in Judea. His name on a clay container attests to his having been a landowner important enough to have his product packed in containers bearing his name. Clearly, the early days of the Israelite kingdom saw the emergence of a much more ordered society than once believed as well as a wealthy class. Only few Hebrew inscriptions were found from 10th century BCE Judea until recently. But the few discovered in the last five years revealed the existence of a kingdom run on organized lines employing clerks and writers.