Archaeologists in Israel say they may have discovered the home of the Old Testament prophet Elisha. A pottery shard with his name on it has been dated to about the ninth century B.C., which would be about the time he lived, researchers say. “You know I cannot say for sure this particular Elisha that we found is the biblical Elisha,” archaeologist Ami Mazar told CBN Jerusalem bureau reporters Chris Mitchell and Julie Stahl. “You know it’s very difficult to say, but it is very tempting because it is exactly the period when Elisha acted – the second half of the ninth century B.C.” CBN reported the pottery piece was found in a novel house uncovered in Tel Rehov in the Jordan Valley. Elisha was born in Avel Mehola, only about seven miles from Tel Rehov. Get the complete 13-part cable network series that asks the powerful question: Is Israel a place of miracles? The report said the research, which has been going on for more than a decade, uncovered a 3,000-year-old “well-planned” city. There, a unique structure was uncovered, with two wings “connected to one another through the back room and each one of the wings had an opening to the street,” Mazar said. Inside was a special room with a table and a bench. A pottery shard bore the name Elisha, CBN reported. The news organization said archaeologist Stephen Pfann suggested the possibility it was the prophet were reasonable. “With only six other people by the name of Elisha known in that time for a couple of centuries on either side, we can somehow believe that either there was just the luck that this holy man was also by the name of Elisha, or this was Elisha the prophet himself,” Pfann told CBN. The report said also found on site were two inscriptions mentioning the family of Nimshi. Pfann told CBN: “We remember that it was Elijah who was told to anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, to be the king. … And he passed that on to Elisha who sent out one of his disciples to finally do the anointing.” Cary Summers, head of Nazareth Village, said there will be doubters. “There is always the skeptic who says, ‘Show me the proof,’” Summers told CBN. He pointed to the tile with the name and the excavation itself as “one more proof for what we call the doubting world.”wnd/2013/07/have-archaeologists-found-home-of-bibles-elisha/
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 03:09:42 +0000
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