JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—The name Eshba’al Ben Bada’, written in Canaanite script, has been found on a 3,000-year-old jar from the site of Khirbet Qeiyafain in the Valley of Elah by a team led by Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University and Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “This is the first time that the name Eshba’al has appeared on an ancient inscription in the country. Eshba’al Ben Shaul, who ruled over Israel at the same time as David, is known from the Bible. Eshba’al was murdered by assassins and decapitated and his head was brought to David in Hebron (II Samuel, Chapters 3-4),” the researchers said in a press release. They also note that the name Eshba’al appears in the Bible and in the archaeological record only during the first half of the tenth century B.C., and was probably a common name during this period. However, “the name Beda’ is unique and does not occur in ancient inscriptions or in the biblical tradition,” they add. The name on the jar suggests that Eshba’al Ben Bada’ owned an agricultural estate and that its produce was packed and shipped in jars inscribed with his name. To read more about this period, go to "Egyptian Style in Ancient Canaan."
