A team consisting of elite climbers and archaeologists recently surveyed the ancient Edomite mountaintop fortress of Sela. Included in the mission was a 90-meter climb to measure and photograph a sixth-century BC relief and inscription, believed to have been commissioned by the Babylonian king, Nabonidus. The 30-line cuneiform inscription beside the image of Nabonidus has previously proved difficult to translate because of its worn state. Perhaps the new photographs of the relief will lead to a translation of the inscription. The team also surveyed the top of the promontory as well as the valley below and discovered 87 pottery sherds, including 43 rims, 23 handles and 17 body sherds, the earliest of which dated to the Iron Age IIc. In the Bible, Daniel lived through Nabonidus' reign in Babylon and read the writing on the wall for his son and co-regent Belshazzar (Dan. 5) on the night that the Babylonian empire fell to the Medes and Persians.
Off-site Links:
- http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/archaeologists-explore-history-mysterious-mountain-stronghold-%E2%80%98sela%E2%80%99-southwest-jordan
- https://elpais.com/ccaa/2019/01/01/catalunya/1546374933_558472.html
