WASHINGTON (AP) -- An inscription found in Egypt could be the third rediscovered ancient text that points to the existence of the biblical King David, according to Biblical Archaeology Review, published here.
Professor Kenneth Kitchen, an Egyptologist now retired from England's University of Liverpool, believes the phrase "Heights of David" appears in a list of place names from southern Judah found at the Temple of Amun in Karnak, Upper Egypt. The list dates from the 10th century B.C., just after the time of King David.Kitchen's reading cannot be certain, however, due to the ambiguity of one letter.
Some modern scholars have speculated that the king was a mythological character. But most experts believe a text found in Israel in 1993 by archeologist Avraham Biran clearly refers to the royal "house of David."
French paleographer Andre Lemaire contends that the most probable reconstruction of a damaged inscription from ancient Moab also names King David.