Archaeologists have found evidence to suggest that biblical texts may have been composed earlier than originally believed, it was reported in April.
A Tel Aviv University team used handwriting technology which found that a cache of Hebrew inscriptions, dated to around 600 BC, were written by at least six different authors. This discovery suggests there was widespread literacy in ancient Judah at the time that would support the composition of the biblical texts.
Longstanding debate
The findings, released on 11 April by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an American scientific journal, contribute to a longstanding debate about when biblical texts first began to be compiled: before or after the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the exile of its inhabitants to Babylon?
