Goliath Found at Gath

Evidence that Goliath, the Philistine hero who fought King David, actually existed has been found at the excavations 0f Tel Zafit, the site identified as the Philistine city of Gath. So claims Professor Aharon Meir of Bar Ilan university, who has been excavating the site for the last decade.

The evidence is a pottery shard with an inscription that contains the words "Alot" and "Valat" which bring to mind the Lydian pronunciation of the name Goliath. The inscription is from the 10th century BCE and is written in proto-Semitic script, even though the names that appear in the inscription are not Semitic names.

The importance of the inscription, according to Professor Meir is the fact that it is the earliest Philistine inscription known today, and one of the few proto-Semitic inscriptions that have an archaeological connotation and that can be clearly dated.

The name Goliath that appears in the bible, is a Hebrew or Israelite distortion of the original Lydian name. The names found in the inscriptions are Philistine versions of the same name. Because the inscription can be dated to a period of about 100 years after the times of King David, the inscription is clear evidence that the story of Goliath was well-known during the early Iron Age.

The finding of the inscription adds fuel to the raging scholastic fire as to the historic value of the bible. "Their is no justification in the claims that have been raised lately that the story of David and Goliath is a later invention" says Professor Meir.


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