Text Suggestions on How the Bible Might Have Been Written Centuries Ago Suggestions for Text The ancient text seen in this artwork was discovered on a piece of pottery in Israel and was later determined to be the oldest known example of Hebrew writing. The drawing depicts a man with a long beard who appears to be giving orders to two other men, one holding a skin of wine and another a bunch of grapes. There are several possible explanations as to how this image came to be on the pottery piece. It may have been done as a ritual act to ask for good harvest next year or perhaps as a joke. No one is sure about its true meaning. Hebrew was the language spoken by the people living in what is now Israel when the Bible was being written. Over time, these people became known as Jews. Although the Bible was written in Hebrew, it was originally spoken by Jews living in Egypt at some point in their history. Over time, Hebrew lost its status as an official language and many Jews began speaking Egyptian Arabic instead. However, even today, most Jewish prayers are still said in Hebrew. The Bible was not written by one person but rather it was compiled from pieces written by different authors over a period of hundreds of years. During this time, Hebrew lost its place as the main language of the Israelites and instead they started using Greek as their second language.