x-posted from the History board:
The date of the invention of an alphabet keeps getting pushed back to earlier and earlier dates. For example, an ivory comb with a complete sentence written on it in ancient Canaanite was found in Lachish and dated to about 1700 BC, supporting the argument that the alphabet was invented around 1800 BC.
Southern Adventist University Archaeologists Find Ivory Comb With First Written Canaanite Sentence | Southern Adventist University
And a "curse amulet" written in proto-Hebrew and dated to 1400-1200 BC was found at the site of an ancient altar on Mt. Ebal.
ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found - Associates for Biblical Research (biblearchaeology.org)
(The altar is almost certainly the altar built by Joshua on Mt. Ebal shortly after the Israelites crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan, as described in Joshua 8:30.)
The significance of these finds is to rebut one of the criticisms of the 5 books of Moses. That is, the critics claim that Moses could not have written them because there was no alphabet during Moses's life (1500-1400 BC). Both of these finds demonstrate that alphabets were most definitely in existence, and that even a proto-Hebrew alphabet existed.
There are many other archaeological finds of early alphabet usage. This is yet another example of the error committed by Biblical skeptics in relying upon the absence of evidence as evidence of absence. Absent evidence in archaeology typically means merely that "we haven't found anything yet."
The date of the invention of an alphabet keeps getting pushed back to earlier and earlier dates. For example, an ivory comb with a complete sentence written on it in ancient Canaanite was found in Lachish and dated to about 1700 BC, supporting the argument that the alphabet was invented around 1800 BC.
Southern Adventist University Archaeologists Find Ivory Comb With First Written Canaanite Sentence | Southern Adventist University
And a "curse amulet" written in proto-Hebrew and dated to 1400-1200 BC was found at the site of an ancient altar on Mt. Ebal.
ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found - Associates for Biblical Research (biblearchaeology.org)
(The altar is almost certainly the altar built by Joshua on Mt. Ebal shortly after the Israelites crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan, as described in Joshua 8:30.)
The significance of these finds is to rebut one of the criticisms of the 5 books of Moses. That is, the critics claim that Moses could not have written them because there was no alphabet during Moses's life (1500-1400 BC). Both of these finds demonstrate that alphabets were most definitely in existence, and that even a proto-Hebrew alphabet existed.
There are many other archaeological finds of early alphabet usage. This is yet another example of the error committed by Biblical skeptics in relying upon the absence of evidence as evidence of absence. Absent evidence in archaeology typically means merely that "we haven't found anything yet."