"Israeli archaeologists recently unearthed hundreds of ceramic fragments in the Valley of Elah, best known as the site David fought Goliath as described in the biblical book of 1 Samuel.
Once they painstakingly pieced together the fragments, they discovered that they had found a
The Israeli researchers pointed out this was the first time an inscription of “Eshba’al” – which appears in the Bible – was found in an archaeological excavation in Israel.
The discovery emphasized once again the link between scripture and artifacts found in the Holy Land.
Eshba’al, also known as Ish-bosheth, was the surviving son of King Saul who led the Kingdom of Israel after his father and three brothers died in the Battle of Gilboa described in 1 Samuel.
It is interesting to note that the name EshbaŹ½al appears in the Bible, and now also in the archaeological record, only during the reign of King David, in the first half of the tenth century B.C. This name was not used later in the First Temple period. The correlation between the biblical tradition and the archaeological finds indicates this was a common name only during that period." TheBlaze
But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul,
and brought him over to Mahanaim;
2 Samuel 2:8