NYTimes last week carried this detailed look (free reg you lazy barstards) at new developoments regarding two artifacts which purport to carry the oldest biblical references ever found. Discovered in a tomb in 1979, these two silver objects dated to the late seventh or early sixth centuries BCE had what appeared to be faint and very fragmented Hebrew inscriptions taken from what is now known as the Book of Numbers.

The inscriptions were so faint there was actually a lot of argument as to just how old they really were. However, by using advanced imaging systems, some of which were provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, scientists were able to make much clearer pictures of the artifacts. The texts became far easier to read, and much more could be read, so the dating of the artifacts appears to be settled.

Assuming it actually is settled, these two pieces of silver would represent a biblical quotation written down just before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.