Early Text Appears to Refer to King David

An inscription found in Egypt could be the third rediscovered ancient text that points to the existence of the biblical King David, according to Biblical Archeology Review, published here.

Professor Kenneth Kitchen, an Egyptologist now retired from England’s University of Liverpool, believes a list of place names from southern Judah found at the Temple of Amun in Karnak includes the phrase “Heights of David.” The list dates from the 10th century BC, just after the time of King David.

Kitchen’s reading cannot be certain, however, because of the ambiguity of one letter in the inscription.

Some modern scholars have speculated that the great biblical king was a mythological character. But most experts believe a text found in Israel in 1993 by archeologist Avraham Biran clearly refers to the royal “house of David.”

French paleographer Andre Lemaire contends that the most probable reconstruction of a third text--a damaged inscription from ancient Moab--also names King David.