Paleo-Hebrew papyrus fragment reported. "To Ishmael"?

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
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StephenGoranson
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Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:10 am

Paleo-Hebrew papyrus fragment reported. "To Ishmael"?

Post by StephenGoranson »

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced a papyrus fragment that it claims dates to the late First Temple period.

https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/ ... 7-sep-2022

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ingatheri ... patriated/

But Prof. Christopher Rollston offered cautions regarding authenticity:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-old ... he-brakes/

So far, rather substantial arguments on both sides, imo.
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John T
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Joined: Thu May 15, 2014 8:57 am

Re: Paleo-Hebrew papyrus fragment reported. "To Ishmael"?

Post by John T »

"In order to confirm that the document was genuine, a small sample was radiometrically dated in the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. The sample provided a date similar to that determined by the paleographic evaluation (based on the letter forms), thus consolidating the dating towards the end of the First Temple period. "...Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Caution is advised. Something about the lettering/ink just doesn't look right. Keep in mind, forgeries are nothing new in the antiquities market and a lot of grave robbery took place immediately after the discovery of cave 1.

Still, very exciting news.
But as secret alias would say, what difference does it make?

Thanks for sharing.
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