Friday, November 11, 2022

Rollston on the so-called "Hezekiah" inscription

THE ROLLSTON EPIGRAPHY BLOG: Restorations are *not* a Good Foundation for Dramatic Proposals: Reflections on the New, So-called, “Hezekiah” Inscription. Christopher Rollston has a very sensible discussion of this fragment of a Hebrew lapidary (i.e. stone), and presumably monumental, inscription. Excerpt:
Of course, if the question is “could these restorations be correct?,” the answer is yes. But there is a vast difference between suggesting something is “possible” and suggesting it is “probable,” “compelling,” or “certain.” Someone might say, “well, is it plausible?” The answer to that may be yes as well. But there is also a lot of distance between something being “plausible” and something being probable, compelling, or certain.
Background here.

And while we're on the subject, Bible History Daily has republished a 2009 BAR article on the fragment by Hershel Shanks, originally published when it was first announced: Hezekiah’s Monumental Inscription? Revisiting an inscription from the pages of BAR.

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