Tell es-Safi inscription
The Tell es-Safi inscription was found in 2005 at the archaeological site at Tell es-Safi, identified with the biblical city of Gath. It was under the destruction layer at the beginning of Iron Age IIA.
Seven letters, interpreted as two words, are written on the piece of pottery: "ALWT" and "WLT". This was initially suggested to be similar to what would have been the name of Goliath, the famous Biblical character from Gath.
Written in Proto-Canaanite, it is the “earliest known alphabetic inscription from an Iron Age Philistine site in a well defined context”.
