An inscription from biblical times that was found at the Khirbet al-Ra'i dig in central Israel, near Kiryat Gat, has been declared to be a unique find, offering a rare glimpse into the time of the Book of Judges, around 1,100 BCE.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The rare Proto-Canaanite words were discovered in 2019 inked on a jug. They spell out the personal name Yrb'l ( Jerubba'al).
According to Christopher Rollston, Yosef Garfinkel, Kyle H. Keimer, Gillan Davis and Saar Ganor, the archeologists who studied this artifact and published a paper on the matter in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology, the inscription "contributes to a better understanding of the distribution of theophoric names with the element ba'al [a Philistine god ] in the eleventh–tenth centuries BCE in Judah."
According to the scholars, the name Jerubba'al appears in the book of judges as the nickname of Gideon, a judge who presided over that area. It was given to him "after his father Joash, defending Gideon from the men of the city who desired to kill him because he destroyed an altar of Ba'al, says: 'Let Ba'al contend against him.'" (the name means, literally, 'Ba'al be afraid).
Even though the writing on the jug could be referring to another person, it would still able to confirm for the first time that this name was common during the time of the judges, as it is exceptionally rare to find inscriptions from that period.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
