The site overlooks the Elah Valley, said to be the scene of the slingshot showdown between David and the Philistine giant Goliath.

The five lines of faded characters have yet to be deciphered, but the finding indicates that a powerful Israelite Kingdom existed at the time of the Old Testament’s King David. 

 

"This is the oldest Hebrew inscription ever found. It is three thousand years old from the time of King David , first found in archeological excavations this summer at Hirbet Qeiyafa."

 

Carbon-14 analysis of burnt olive pits found in the same layer of the site dated the shard to between 1000 and 975 B.C., the same time as David’s rule in Jerusalem. History's best known Hebrew text, the Dead Sea scrolls were written 850 years later.

 

Other scholars, however, are hesitant to embrace Garfinkel's interpretation of the find, debating whether the Bible's account of events and geography is meant to be taken literally. There is also doubt that the text is Hebrew and not a related language spoken in the area at that time. Some scholars and archeologists argue that the Bible's account of David's time inflates his importance and that of his kingdom and is essentially myth, perhaps rooted in a shred of fact.

 

Modern Zionism has traditionally seen archaeology as a way of strengthening the Jewish claim to Israel. So if Garfinkel's claim is supported, it would bolster the case for the Bible's accuracy, indicating that the settlement was probably inhabited by Israelites.