Analysis Shows that the Hebrew Bible May Be Centuries Older than Once Thought

New research may change to the early history of Christianity and Judaism. Researchers from Tel Aviv University believe that a discovery from Arad proves that the Hebrew Bible was written much earlier than thought. Their research also suggests a surprisingly high level of literacy in the Kingdom of Judah circa 600 BC.

The results of an algorithmic handwriting analysis presented by researchers in  PNAS suggests that the Hebrew Bible was composed before the historical destruction of the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem in 586 BC. The researchers say that the shards discovered at a frontier fort in Arad, Israel date back to around the 7th century BC and were written by at least six different people. LiveScience reports that the discovery has started a discussion regarding the timing of the composition of a critical mass of biblical texts.

The use of cutting-edge computerized image processing and machine learning tools allowed the researchers to analyze 16 ink inscriptions unearthed at an excavation in the remote fort of Arad. The researchers designed an algorithm to distinguish between different authors, then composed a statistical mechanism to assess the findings, and in the end they eliminated the probability that the texts were written by a single author.