Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 7, 1993 TAG: 9308070056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JERUSALEM LENGTH: Short
The words "King of Israel" and "House of David" appear in Aramaic script on a shattered stele, or monument, uncovered by Israeli archeologists at Tel Dan in northern Israel.
Team leader Avraham Biran said the language and style of the fragment point to the ninth century B.C., when David's great-great grandson, Asa, King of Judah, paid the King of Aram to battle a rival Israeli leader. The battle is described in I Kings 15:18-19.
The earliest archeological reference to a biblical figure until now has been to "the House of Omri," an Israelite king.
The 12 tribes of Israel split into two kingdoms after the reign of David's son, Solomon. Two tribes formed Judah in the south and the remaining 10 tribes formed Israel in the north. The Judean monarchy maintained the line of King David.
By the time of Asa's rule, Israel was encroaching on Judah's capital, Jerusalem. Asa emptied the national treasury to get Aram to attack Israel from the north.
Biran said the fragment was deliberately shattered, and was found as a piece making up part of a wall.
"This may have happened 30 years later, when Ahab, an Israelite King, was victorious over Aram," he said. "Ahab would not have wanted a monument to Aram in his territory.
Modern Jews trace their ancestry to the two tribes of Judah. The Gospel of St. Luke describes Jesus Christ as descended from the House of David.
by CNB