The Oldest Hebrew Inscription from Jerusalem has been deciphered

The Oldest Hebrew Inscription from Jerusalem has been deciphered

Professor Gershon Galil, from the Department of Biblical Studies and Jewish History, University of Haifa, in Israel, who has deciphered the inscription, pointed out that it indicates writing abilities as well as the existence of an administration which collects taxes, prepare storage places and jars, and takes care of the workers in Jerusalem, as early as the second half of the 10th century BC, probably in the reign of King Solomon. 

Prof. Galil also said that the new inscription indicates that large quantities of inferior wine were used in Jerusalem: "This cheap wine was not served on Solomon's table, nor used in the Temple. So it is reasonable to suppose that it was served to the hard workers that were engaged in the large scale building projects in Jerusalem, and maybe also to the soldiers who served there. The logistics needed were probably concentrated in the Ophel. Inferior wine was also served to the Cypriot mercenaries in Arad, and in later periods to workers and soldiers in the Hellenistic and Roman periods". The inscription also teaches us that there were scribes in Jerusalem who were able to write texts as early as the second half of the 10th century BC. The registration of the wine and its storage indicate the existence of an administration which collected taxes, prepared storage places and jars, and took care of the workers in Jerusalem, fed them and served them water and even inferior wine. "Scribes that were able to write administrative texts are also able to compose literary and historiographical texts (as clearly demonstrated recently by the Qeiyafa inscription). This fact is of major importance for reconstructing the process of the crystallization of the Bible, and even more for the understanding of the History of Israel and Jerusalem in Biblical times", summarized Prof. Galil.

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=62972