Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Why we are here

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147860062&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Cast your mind back to before Muhammad destroyed the Jewish tribes of
Arabia; before Islam expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula reaching
Jerusalem in 638. Before the ancient Roman Empire and the emergence of
Christianity; before the Greek empire; even before the Persians came
onto the stage of history.
Consider the distant 10th century before the Common Era when the ancient
Israelites were consolidating their kingdom under Saul and David.
Over the weekend came a report that an ancient inscription had been
deciphered testifying - yet again - to the age-old connection between
the people and land of Israel.
On what in ancient times was a main road from the coastal plain to the
hill country, Hebrew University of Jerusalem archeologist Yosef
Garfinkel, digging in the northern Judean hills at Khirbet Qeiyafa -
which borders on the Eila Valley (off today's Route 38) - found a piece
of pottery with ink writing which dates back to the Davidic era.
The discovery was made a year-and-a-half ago. A number of scholars are
examining the text though Prof. Gershon Galil, a biblical studies expert
at the University of Haifa, just made his conclusions public.
The inscriptions, he said, are undoubtedly ancient Hebrew, using words
such as almana (widow) that would have been written differently in other
local languages.
It is easy to get carried away by academic hoopla. Some bible scholars
and archeologists may disagree with the tone of Galil's revelations and
the assertion that new ground is being broken. Other scholars have yet
to weigh in.
STILL, this much appears clear:
• There was an expansive Kingdom of David which extended well beyond the
hill country.
• The Hebrew language was sufficiently developed in the 10th century. It
reinforces what many scholars have long appreciated - that parts of the
Bible are very, very old.
• During the reign of King David there were scribes who were able to
compose complex literary texts such as the books of Judges and Samuel.
• The find establishes that scholarship was taking place away from
kingdom's hub, implying that even greater learning was going on at its
heart.
The text is equally significant because it shows that a key concern of
the ancient Israelites was social justice:
You shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an]
[and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and]
the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.
Galil told The Jerusalem Post he has no doubt that the inscription is
ancient Hebrew and that only Jews, not Canaanites, could have authored it.
It is living - Carbon-14 dated - proof that in the 10th century Samuel
could have written what traditionalists have ascribed to him all along.
(Galil also remarked that ancient Hebrew was once written from left to
right.)
IT MAY seem obvious that the Jewish connection to this land dates back
thousands of years. "By the rivers of Babylon" - but also by the waters
of the Danube, Volga, Dnieper and Rhine - "we sat down and cried as we
remembered Zion."
The Jewish lament for Zion knew no bounds.
Yet since the Jewish return under the auspices of the modern Zionist
movement, an elaborate industry of denial has sprung up.
Many reputable scholars never set out to deny the ancient connection
between Jews and Israel, but simply emphasized the lack of contemporary
confirmation that Bible figures such as David were anything like their
scriptural portraits. Unfortunately, their work was quickly manipulated
and exploited by anti-Zionists. All the while, the Palestinian Arab
leadership has remained adamant that evidence of an ancient Jewish
presence in this land is a figment of the Zionist imagination. It's
unlikely that anything will sway Palestinians out of their obdurate denial.
Still, the work of a generation of bible scholars and archeologists -
along with their vibrant debates - continues to uplift the Israeli
spirit. It is gratifying to observe - from Eila Valley pottery writings
and Dead Sea scrolls to Beit Guvrin tablets - ancient Jewish history
falling ever more vividly into place, reminding us why we are here.

 
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147860062&pagename=JPo.
..
"ce la posso fare, ce la posso fare, ce la posso fare", si ripeteva il
fallito...