‘House of David’: The Tel Dan Inscriptions

"I prepared this presentation for a seminar at the University of Copenhagen in August 2001. Since then I have continued working with the subject and produced a revision which includes slides and text. A Danish version was presented at my department in December 2000.In this lecture I intend:∑ to present the most discussed inscription(s) among Old Testament scholars in the last decade.∑ to discuss the question: One or more inscriptions.∑ to discuss the problem of dating the inscription.∑ to discuss various interpretations of the inscription--especially the phrase ‘the House of David’.∑ to discuss whether the inscription is genuine or a fraud.∑ to discuss the importance of this inscription (these inscriptions) for the history of historical Israel in ancient times. "