Topic: Giants
So, this really did fire its way into my Twitter feed today. It ever so rudely got me all hopeful about a potentially interesting giant find. The article was entitled "Biblical Giants Unearthed in Golan Heighs?" OK--I'm thinking "I know the Golan--I wrote my dissertation on a site there (Banias/Caesarea Philppi)--this could be good." But alas......no. Don't get me wrong, I believe that the giants existed, but I also think its absolutely necessary to apply science to the problem.
Here's the link to the article on World News Daily Report (e-tabloid essentially). http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/biblical-giants-unearthed-in-golan-heights/
I appreciate the zeal to find evidence, but I get really frustrated when people post things without looking into the source. For some reason, sensationalists seem to fail to realize that this lampoons a very serious inquiry.
The first suspect element of this report is its source. World ews Daily Report s essentially a tabloid. Its journalism should be weighed in light of this. The second questionable element is the recycling of a photograph of two "giant skeletons" and ostensibly an "archaeologist" measuring the width of the lowest grave. This photo is a hoax of some years standing. Thirdly, the authors refer to the University of Tel Aviv, which one would think was meant to be the proper name "Tel-Aviv University."
But wait--it gets MUCH better. The article refers to a team of archaeologsists from the university that has been working on a new portion of Gilgal Refaim. Enter mistake number four--the quote from a non-existent archaeologist. A Tom Yiggur is credited with one of the article's quotes. Nowhere on the Tel-Aviv University site will you find his name, nor will you find it in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures. Fifth, the article makes mention of a Guntar Web, a scholar in the department of Biblical Studies. Not surprisingly, Web appears nowhere on the university site or the department.
Folks, this is disinformation at its worst. In the parlance of our day, it's fake news. Keep looking though--the truth is out there, you just need to be discerning. Keep searching!
