Tikvah
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July 11, 2022

One Scholar Believes He Has Deciphered One of Jerusalem’s Most Ancient Inscriptions. Another Has His Doubts

There’s little reason to believe it was written by “sophisticated magicians” who held “voodoo ceremonies.”

In 2010, Israeli archaeologists uncovered a stone tablet in the oldest part of Jerusalem, which they believe dates to the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE. Gershon Galil, a professor at the University of Haifa, recently announced that he deciphered writing on the tablet in an ancient language related to Hebrew. According to Galil, the inscription contains a curse that was likely the work of “sophisticated magicians” who held “voodoo ceremonies.” Christopher Rollston, a leading authority on ancient Semitic inscriptions, is skeptical:

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