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Adam Zertal

Standing at the altar? If Israeli archaeologist Adam Zertal is right, this nearly square (24.5 feet by 29.5 feet) stone structure on Mt. Ebal with what Zertal takes to be a 23-foot ramp leading up to it is the only instance of archaeological research bringing to life a specific instruction in the Hebrew Bible. Zertal believes this may be the altar described in Joshua 8:30–35 as the site of the recitation of the blessings and the curses following Israel’s entry into Canaan. Other archaeologists disagree with Zertal’s interpretation of the site, however, seeing it as nothing more than an isolated fort or a farmhouse.