A lead “curse tablet” written in ancient Hebrew more than 3,000 years ago may actually be a fishing weight with no discernible writing, new research suggests.
The postage stamp-size lead piece, known as the Mount Ebal tablet, has been controversial since its discovery was announced last March. Its finders suggested the tablet showed writing in an early form of the Hebrew alphabet that called on the god of the Israelites to curse his enemies. But the new studies reject claims that the tablet is the earliest-known inscription of the name Yahweh and that it supports biblical accounts of the origins of the ancient Israelites.
“Maybe there’s something there,” archaeologist Aren Maeir of Israel’s Bar-Ilan University told Live Science. “But with what they’ve published, there isn’t.”
Tom Metcalfe 