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This paper provides a new collation of the Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon on the basis of the multispectral images produced by Gregory Bearman and William Christens-Barry in collaboration with a number of imaging labs in 2009. It proposes 59 letters in total, with 12 new readings, including 5 new partial reconstructions, all supported by an analysis of these detailed, high-definition images. This new collation permits a renewed attempt at translation of the ostracon, which is interpreted as a record of the summons of a defendant in a legal dispute. In the course of analysis, it is argued that if the decipherment is accepted, the language of the text appears to be an archaic, dialectal form of Hebrew. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an inscribed Punic stele reused in the church of Sant’Efisio di Pula (Sardinia). The typological analysis of the stone monument and the votive formula of the inscription indicate that the stele was primarily dedicated as an ex voto in the tophet of Nora, located near the church. The paper also takes stock of the re-use of Punic stelae from the tophet of Nora in the church of Sant’Efisio and the adjacent structure, known as the “Casa dell’Alter Nos”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a revised interpretation of the recurring sequence ḏ t b ṯ n m ṯ found in the early alphabetic inscriptions from Serabit el-Khadem, an Egyptian turquoise mining facility located in the Sinai Peninsula. I argue that this sequence combines with the well-known phrase m(ʾ)hb(b)ʿlt "beloved of the Lady" in Sinai 351, 353, 360, and 361 to form a memorial formula meaning "Beloved of the Lady are those who tell people about Māṯ." It thus expresses a sentiment similar to contemporaneous Egyptian inscriptions from Serabit el-Khadem: the author of the inscriptions—in this case Māṯ—asks the reader to perform some action on his behalf. In return, he assures the reader that they will be beloved of the Lady (i.e., Hathor, the patron goddess of the mining district). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arad Ostracon 16 is part of the Elyashiv Archive, dated to ca. 600 b.c. It was published as bearing an inscription on the recto only. New multispectral images of the ostracon have enabled us to reveal a hitherto invisible inscription on the verso, as well as additional letters, words, and complete lines on the recto. We present here the new images and offer our new reading and reinterpretation of the ostracon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]