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David Olmsted deposited Translation of el-Khadr Spearheads Found Near Bethlehem Show they were used in Rituals involving Yahu – 900 BCE in the group
Phoenician Studies on Humanities Commons 1 year, 7 months ago
This paper translates the inscriptions found on five bronze spearheads found near the village of el-Khadr located 2 miles (5 km) west of Bethlehem. Their underlying language is Alphabetic Akkadian and not Hebrew. These spearheads were part of a cache of 26 found near Bethlehem which were first published by Frank Moore Cross in 1954 and 1980. Four of the inscriptions use Philistine lettering while one uses Phoenician. This allows a composition date to be established around 900 BCE. All inscriptions focus on Yahu (Yaweh) within the context of the Ancient Pagan Paradigm. Other deities mentioned are the sun god Hu and the connective god Atu. The subjects of these inscriptions indicate the spears were used in rituals.