tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post115780245526550540..comments2009-07-12T14:05:45.690-05:00Todd Bolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06156730661243501832noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post-1160553383671398962006-10-11T02:56:00.000-05:002006-10-11T02:56:00.000-05:00I've been asked to clarify what I wrote about the part of the story. The story says:<BR/><BR/>"Barkay can also lay claim to finding the oldest known Biblical text to date. In the 1970s, he led a group of school children on a tour of first Temple tombs above the Valley of Hinnom. One of the pupils started hammering at a stone slab which suddenly gave way to reveal over 1,000 items buried with a corpse."<BR/><BR/>My response: The impression given here is that Barkay was walking along with students in tow when one of the students started pounding on a rock. The article doesn't give the impression that 1) this was an organized excavation; 2) the student was given a particular job to do; 3) the "stone slab" was believed to be the tomb's floor which the student was assigned to clean but did so too aggressively. My comment in response was "Not exactly how one should do archaeology, but, of course, it didn't happen that way at all." By which I mean, it was an organized, planned, and responsible excavation.Todd Bolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06156730661243501832noreply@blogger.com