DCHindley

Seems like the authors of the initial report were a wee too optimistic about the significance of this find. We already knew from the tel Amarna finds that "kings" of cities in the region of Canaan were vassals of Egypt and wrote to the Pharaoh in cuneiform characters.

So, we find a cuneiform fragment from the same period. That doesn't make Jerusalem a major player in the region. In fact, among the Amarna letters, the king who wrote the Pharaoh seemed to be relatively unable to resist the raids of the "Hibaru," so much so that he was begging for Pharaoh to send troops for fear that the region will ultimately be lost to Pharaoh if nothing was done.

We know nothing more about the region or its politics because of the Jerusalem 1 find.

Oh well!

DCH

Minimalist

They are so desperate to show that there was a city at the site that little things like 4 or 5 centuries go right over their heads.

Minimalist

A good article on the subject.

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article...itics/19556460

PhilosopherJay

Hi Minimalist,

This is an excellent article. Thanks.
I guess we should remember that most digs take a great deal of time, human labor and money. It must be a great disappointment to archaeologists when their works and dreams come to nothing or they only find something with very little real significance. There must be a great temptation to hype the importance of their findings. That is understandable, although in the long-run, it is not helpful to anybody.

Warmly,

Jay

Minimalist

You are correct, Jay, as far as you take it. The other (and more important I daresay) side of the coin is that the backers of these digs putting up the money, in this case "Elad", has a political mission to demonstrate some biblical tie to East Jerusalem as an excuse to evict the Palestinians living there. They could care less about archaeology. They are in it for immediate political gain.

Eilat Mazar has taken a lot of well deserved flak from her colleagues for playing along with this game.