You are cursed by the god yhw, cursed.
You will die, cursed – cursed, you will surely die.
Cursed you are by yhw – cursed.
These are the words found on a lead tablet that was recently discovered in a pile of discarded archaeological material on Mount Ebal in the land of Israel. The tablet was so fragile that scientists had to use CT scanning to decipher the letters.
This discovery generated a lot of interest because it is several hundred years older than any other previously discovered Hebrew inscription.
Another reason this discovery had generated interest is because of its direct ties to the Bible. There are two relevant Scripture passages, both of which mention curses on Mount Ebal.
First, there is Deuteronomy 11:26–29:
[Moses said] “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: [27] the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, [28] and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. [29] And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.”
Then there is Joshua 8:30–33:
“At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, [31] just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, ‘an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.’ And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings. [32] And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. [33] And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel.”
Obedience to God’s laws was to be impressed on the people of Israel in a very dramatic way. Half of the people would stand on Mount Gerizim, the mount of blessing, representing obedience, and the other half would stand on Mount Ebal, the mount of cursing, representing disobedience. Then the law would be read to the people.
As Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis points out, at the very least, this discovery indicates that one or more individuals considered Mount Ebal to be a mountain of curses, as the Bible says.
The letters yhw from the inscription are the three consonants that form the personal name that God gave for himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14.
Once again, we see how archaeology confirms what the Bible says.
Czech, German, English, Hebrew, and Spanish scholars all collaborated on this project and we can expect much more research to be done either confirming or contradicting their work.
To read more about this discovery to go:
Mirror Neurons 