Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

> [...]
> While George has already accepted its authenticity, such authenticity has
> not as yet been established and we are living in the world of the Piltdown
> Man, Schliemann's treasure of Priam or for that matter Cyril Burt's child
> psychology statistics. [...]

Ian, in my research, I've shown that the three fragments of the inscription 
do come from
the same original stele. One of the major pieces of evidence is the way each 
letter has
been carved. There is a universal trend in the manner of carving for every 
letter on each
fragment. You can't pick it up in the photographs, but you certainly can when 
you see the
fragments themselves. Given that the fragments were discovered at different 
points in time
in different locations of the same general area (Area A of Tel Dan), it seems 
reasonable
to suggest, on the basis of the manner of carving (for one), that the 
fragments are
authentic. We'll have to wait for Fred Cryer to publish his arguments for 
forgery, too,
before making a final judgement. However, I believe their authenticity can be 
proven
beyond reasonable doubt even now.

The David issue is another issue.

Best regards,