in what they say is a primary context (not moved between then and the time it was discovered). I was hoping this would be from say 500 BC though. Then again that would be top-of-the-home-page news.

Keep digging lower . Each level brings more proof of our belonging to the land. Each level goes back further and further in time.

If, as the Muslim's claim, that the land belongs to them, we can't seem to find any artifacts that substantiate their claims

I wonder whether they dated by pottery or by organic remains (olive pits usually). There is no known link between Palestinian Arabs and any ancient people in the area though. Some may have descended from converted Jews and Christians, yes, but that would mean they come from the opportunistic folk who never stuck to what they believed in.

They have no heritage If as they claim they are "Philistines" their homeland is in the Aegean, near Greece BTW- I am quite familiar with a Turiah, we used them to dig our cannon emplacements, back breaking labor, done while bent over because the handle is so short & blade so big I've asked hundreds of times for any of them to prove their entitlement, even going so far that they can use their Quran as proof, nary a nibble,just silence

It depicts a snakes forked tongue

antiques....It's their job to find something that would prove Jews were in Palestine, even if they have to make it up and they do all the time. So far 60+ years and still nothing significent... TATA

Most detractors at least try to prove their claims by offering some facts of their own. Great bigotted rant - pretty funny to read. Israeli science might actually be able to grow a brain for you! TATA..DERRRRR

Yeah, because, you know, there's not a retaining wall from the Herodian temple there or anything. I'm not saying that Zionism is justified, just that yes, Judah WAS there, and "Palestine" was then invaded by the Romans, and before that the Babylonians.

hogwash of course. Ah, so that's how one spells it. It might be a pain, but it's easier if you use a row of buckets and of course pickaxe the dirt first. We put ours on longer handles, but we had one with a short handle (which we named). Speaking of gun emplacements. The first week of my last stint at Megiddo was actually spent removing stones that the Palmach had arranged for machine gun emplacements (they were in a secondary context that made them useless) during the War of Independence. Can't blame them of course and it's not like the area wasn't already damaged by UChicago. The Qu'ran doesn't contain it as the claim about Jerusalem was manufactured by a ruler of Jerusalem... I think al-Malik. It was a brilliant campaign on his part as we can see today.

The Tel Dan Stele, The Mesha Stele, and (in Egypt) the Merneptah Stele. These are the three most major finds from non-Hebraic sources that point to our ancestors inhabiting the area. Look them up yourself. No one, save a small group of biblical scholars, disputes their authenticity. Those are all very early by the way. For something later, you of course have the Arch of Titus in Rome, which depicts that treasures taken from the Temple at that time as well as the famous "Dead Sea Scrolls" found in Jordan. These are physical pieces of evidence whose authenticity is undisputed by any serious scholar. Oh and of course the depiction of the sacking of Lachish at Nineveh by the Assyrians. The King there devoted a whole room to it. It is very gruesome, but tells the story. I believe there is also a record in that same palace of a tribute being taken from Judah in exchange for not being attacked. There also minor finds like the so-called Silver Scroll from the time of Josiah which contains the earliest known Biblical passage (Deuteronomy). And physical evidence in the form of things such as pottery point to a Canaanite origin for our ancestors (as opposed to Exodus). It is best to actually research a topic before making such pronouncements. I am an archaeologist in this field by the way (or I will officially be when I get my BA in May).

Even a nerd such as yourself must of heard of "Carbon Dating"? Which is used to establish the time period of any item in question What you're thinking of "within your very limited abilities" is the fake antiques that the Arab shop owners try to peddle as the genuine thing A lot of the genuine material that was found on our Temple Mount, was excavated by the WAQF, hauled off to the Jordan desert & dumped in an attempt to conceal the Jewish Heritage, which by the way is established in the Bible of any faith, and your Quran Odd thing about it, nary a mention of Palestine, Jerusalem or Al Aqsa in the Quran, how come?? I would venture to guess that you try to palm yourself as a human being, which we both know you're not , since you're merely a drone You have just given me for a new bread stamp that you can use, in the shape of a skunk, in your own image

for ignorance Carbon dating will authenticate the age of the artifact Counterfeits, those are sold by Arab shopkeepers to unsuspecting suckers, you must have bought some They haven't found an Arab bread as yet, I would suggest the image of a female jackass (Jenny) in your honor

In post 11 I have a list of what I remember. I know there are some lesser known ones, but I don't remember them from my Archaeology of Israel course. Anyone can look up those artefacts, though "Silver Scroll" can lead to judaica sales on Google.

It's rather expensive and oftentimes you don't find the charcoal or burned olive pits you need to get such dates (or you have a clod who touches them the first time they make such a find (the charcoal or pit) thus rendering them useless... like I did on my first dig). Thankfully everyone in the area left lots of nice pottery which usually has been matched up with C-14 dates elsewhere, so C-14 dating in a certain spot usually isn't necessary (not that we don't occasionally break out the aluminium foil to protect an artefact from human hands so it can be tested). Look up pottery seriation for more. I am terrible at explaining it. If you already know how it works though, even better. There's also about fifteen other dating methods of varying usefulness, but most of which are dreadfully boring (except for dendrochronology)

after Josiah. The point still stands though that there is ample evidence for our presence in the Land.

to have made of a mineral, to me it looks like hardeneed clay, it most certainly wasn't vegetable matter

date it. The material of the stamp is irrelevant to that process. You can look at the material under a microscope though to determine where it is from (local or imported); such is the work of gentlemen like Yuval Goren (look him up; guy's a genius).