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This article uses updated models of the 7th-century bce economy to argue that the harvesting activities reported in the Meṣad Ḥashavyahu ostracon occurred at a small grain-cultivating site located in the Judahite highlands. The distance between this farmstead and the inscription's coastal findspot explains why the ostracon was inscribed in the first place: the harvester could not appeal his case in person. As can be detected in the complaint, the granary complex in the Judahite highlands specialised in cereal products and was conversely not designed for the cultivation of a diversity of crops for local subsistence. This economic choice likely originated in Judah's effort to contribute its own grain surpluses to a broader regional network of trade and commerce, one which was defined by specialised zones of surplus production that originated in the wake of Sennacherib's campaign in 701 bce. Because Egypt built the fortress in which the inscription was found and moreover coerced Judah's king and people into a new system of obligatory payment (2 Kgs 23:29-35), the ostracon represents a stunning glimpse into a time when Judah's own administration was forcing its labourers to meet the extractive demands of an external power. The commander (śar) in the fortress was the logical authority for the harvester's case, as (1) a high-ranking figure close to both the Egyptian and Judahite powers, (2) a recipient of inland grain products, and (3) a potential keeper of important transactional documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a hitherto unknown remarkable astrolabe from Al-Andalus which likely belonged to the collection of Ludovico Moscardo (1611–1681) assembled in Verona in the seventeenth century. The astrolabe is datable to the eleventh century and features added Hebrew and Latin inscriptions. It underwent many modifications, additions, and adaptations as it changed hands and owners over time thus becoming a palimpsest object. With its added translations from Arabic into Hebrew, the astrolabe closely recalls the recommendations prescribed by the Spanish Jewish polymath Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089–1167) in the earliest surviving treatise on the astrolabe in the Hebrew language written in 1146 precisely in Verona. The astrolabe—today preserved in the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo—stands out as a testimony to the contacts and exchanges among Arabs, Jews and Europeans in the medieval and early modern periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly accepted that the spelling of the pre-exilic books of the Bible was generally defective like that of contemporary epigraphy, and that the matres lectionis were inserted into the original texts by scribes during the first half of the Second Temple period. This article argues that the orthography of the ancient books of the Bible was from its beginning similar to that of the MT. The difference between the current biblical spelling and the defective spelling of the inscriptions should instead be understood as a matter of different registers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Quarterly of the History of Material Culture / Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej is the property of Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hebrew gravestone inscriptions from Jewish cemeteries from the region called Raysn (mostly in current Belarus and partially in Ukraine) are studied as a historical source and a literature genre. The epitaphs express the idea of a connection between the ideal world of Scripture and religious Hebrew books and the world of everyday life of a shtetl or community. This can be traced at several levels. First, at the level of inscriptions’ structure, the epitaph includes an indication of the place (“here lies”), time (date), and name, thus tying the deceased to a specific “coordinate system”. Second, biblical quotations emphasize the relation of a particular life and death to the situation with that described in the Bible. Third, at the language level, despite the fact that epitaphs are almost always written in Hebrew and not in Yiddish, we are dealing with certain features of Hebrew—Yiddish bilingualism. Hebrew terms could simultaneously be Yiddish lexemes. We observe orthography code-switching between Hebrew consonant spelling and Yiddish phonetic spelling, depending on whether the concept is found in Hebrew holy books or in everyday life. Fourth, epitaphs occupy an intermediate position between the “high”, author's literature and canonical religion, on the one hand, and folk literature and religion, on the other hand. The difference between the epitaphs from Ukraine and Belarus is discussed.

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 study of Hebrew inscriptions from Çufut-Qal‘eh is a central topic of Hebrew epigraphy in Russia. For a long time, the central controversial question was whether Jews or Karaites could live in the Crimean castle cities, such as Çufut-Qal‘eh and Mangup, before the Tatar invasion of the 1230s. The almost two-century long study of the inscriptions included the analysis of chronological systems, naming patterns, lexical content, comparison with historical sources, archival data, statistical, topographical and architectural analysis, as well as many other approaches. Studying the structure of the inscriptions and viewing Hebrew epitaphs as a literary genre can provide additional insights on the attitudes towards life and death reflected in these inscriptions.

Copyright of Proceedings in Archeology & History of Ancient & Medieval Black Sea Region is the property of Cimmeria Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Proceedings in Archeology & History of Ancient & Medieval Black Sea Region is the property of Cimmeria Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Jerusalem pithos inscription was found in 2012 in an Iron IIA (tenth century, High Chronology) context. Nine epigraphers have already tried to decipher this short Canaanite or Early-Alphabetic inscription, but their readings vary greatly. Galil, followed by Petrovich, boldly restores the words yyn ḥlq ('inferior, poor wine') and deduces that this is "the first Hebrew inscription" from Jerusalem. It supposedly relates to allocation of wine by Solomon for his many builders and soldiers in Jerusalem. I suggest here that this reading is forced. The wide-mouthed Jerusalem pithos is not a wine vessel. A negative term like 'poor, inferior wine' finds its place in administrative and literary contexts, but cannot be a wine-vessel label. There is no proof that this inscription is in Hebrew and it does not 'prove' the United Monarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of early Hebrew inscriptions at the site of Kuntillet ʿAjrud has generated considerable discussion among scholars over the past few decades. The fact that the inscriptions contain explicitly religious themes led some to conclude that the site had a cultic function. In the present article, we challenge this assumption and argue that the inscriptions with religious themes are embedded in daily life as religion converges with scribal curriculum in ancient Israel. The inscriptions provide insights into conceptions of the Israelite pantheon, divine theophany, and theomachy in early Israelian religious ideology.

The Hebrew inscription in the Piedat attributed to Bartolomé Bermejo is usually viewed in relation to the possible involvement of conversos in the painting. Offering a broader exploration of the local setting as well as the visual and textual models available to Bermejo, this article goes beyond a narrow converso interpretation and situates the inscription within two different contexts: an environment of growing Christian interest in Hebraic knowledge and an Aragonese artistic experimentation with the iconography of the Man of Sorrows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Ekron inscription, discovered at the site of Tel Miqne-Ekron in summer 1996, as monumental text. It states that the inscription was written on a large rectangular limestock block and function as decoration because it was installed as part of the structure of the temple. It also mentions that the inscription animated the temple, leading the structure to speak to an audience.

Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca—ink-on-clay texts. They are poorly preserved and once unearthed, fade rapidly. Therefore, proper and timely documentation of ostraca is essential. Here we show a striking example of a hitherto invisible text on the back side of an ostracon revealed via multispectral imaging. This ostracon, found at the desert fortress of Arad and dated to ca. 600 BCE (the eve of Judah’s destruction by Nebuchadnezzar), has been on display for half a century. Its front side has been thoroughly studied, while its back side was considered blank. Our research revealed three lines of text on the supposedly blank side and four "new" lines on the front side. Our results demonstrate the need for multispectral image acquisition for both sides of all ancient ink ostraca. Moreover, in certain cases we recommend employing multispectral techniques for screening newly unearthed ceramic potsherds prior to disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Flemish painters Quentin Massys and his son Jan Massys appear to be the authors of four works with a very similar motif, the bust of Jesus Christ. These canvasses can be found in different locations today: the Prado Museum in Madrid (Spain), the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History of The Hague (Netherlands), the Kunstmuseum Winterthur (Switzerland), and another one in a private collection. Written on the edge of the robe around the neck, these canvasses display a series of Hebrew or pseudo-Hebrew letters. We offer the complete solution deciphered, until today incomplete, for three of them, with a very similar letter sequence. Finally, we resolve completely one of the canvasses, which, until today, had no known solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two reasons lead many scholars today to think that the Israelites were not able to produce long, literary works during the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. First, there is a dearth of Hebrew inscriptions from that time; second, the Israelites did not have the necessary socio-economic resources until the 8th century BCE. This article critically assesses these two lines of reasoning in light of current research in the epigraphy and archaeology of the Southern Levant. In addition, it provides several elements which indicate that the necessary conditions for the production of long texts were present in Judah/ Israel in the early royal period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses phonemic spelling and scription continua for Sandhi phenomena and glottal stop deletion. It argues that the orthography of Old Canaanite in the proto-alphabetic inscriptions discovered at Serābī? el-Khādem in the Sinai Desert is shallow and that scriptio continua employed in these early texts is a vital part of their shallow orthography. Also discussed is Sandi coalescence of identical consonants in Northwest semitic orthography.

The summer of 2013 offered the exciting announcement from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Eilat Mazar's excavational team had found potsherds of an inscribed pithos in the Ophel of Jerusalem that the excavators dated to the 10th century bc, which many have called the oldest Hebrew inscription ever uncovered at Jerusalem. The pithos in question was one of seven discovered in a foundational deposit as part of a fill, under a building that was constructed on bedrock. Numerous scholars have chronicled their opinions of the Ophel inscription's transcription and language, mostly utilising online blogs. This work seeks to delve deeper into the identification of each letter on the inscription, the language and translation of its text, and the dating of the potsherds of the inscribed pithos based on its findspot, with the intent of resolving each of these matters as confidently as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In den wenigen Jahren seitdem Ausgrabungen in Khirbet Qeiyafa durchgeführt wurden, haben sich schon einige wichtige Studien mit seiner beeindruckenden Hinterlassenschaft aus der frühen Eisenzeit beschäftigt. Was bislang unberücksichtigt blieb, sind die Folgerungen der Befunde für die Schriftkultur, die für das Bild dieser Periode in der Hebräischen Bibel verantwortlich ist. Die Absicht dieser Studie besteht darin, das literarische Schicksal von Khirbet Qeiyafa mit dem des frühen und späten eisenzeitlichen Jerusalem zu vergleichen und zu ermitteln, was das Nichtvorkommen bzw. Vorkommen dieser Standorte in der Hebräischen Bibel über die Quellen der biblischen Verfasser aussagt, über die sie im 11. und 10. Jh. v. Chr. verfügten. Zugleich wird gefragt, welchen Beitrag Ort und Erinnerung bei der Überlieferung dieser Geschichten im antiken Israel und Juda hatten. Résumé: In the few short years since excavations were first carried out at Khirbet Qeiyafa a number of important studies have been devoted to its impressive early Iron Age remains. Yet what has not been pursued within these discussions are the implications of the settlement's material culture for our understanding of the scribal cultures responsible for the portrayal of this time period in the Hebrew Bible. In comparing the literary fate of Khirbet Qeiyafa with that of the contemporaneous site of late Iron I/early Iron IIA Jerusalem, the intent of this study is to examine what the absence and presence of these two sites in the Hebrew Bible indicates about the sources biblical scribes possessed about the 11th-10th centuries BCE, and how place and memory contributed to the transmission of these stories over time in ancient Israel and Judah. Zusammenfassung: Dans les quelques années qui ont suivi les fouilles à Khirbet Qeiyafa, un bon nombre d'études conséquentes ont été consacrées à ses impressionnants vestiges du début de l'âge de Fer. Cependant, ce qui n'a pas été développé dans ces discussions, ce sont les implications de la culture matérielle de ce site pour notre compréhension milieux de scribes responsables de la description de cette période dans la Bible hébraïque. En comparant le destin littéraire de Khirbet Qeiyafa avec celui de Jérusalem, site contemporain de la fin du Fer I et du début du Fer IIA, cette étude cherche à examiner ce que la présence et l'absence de ces deux sites dans la Bible hébraïque indiquent au sujet des sources que les scribes bibliques possédaient sur les 11-10es siècles av. notre ère et les implications pour la transmission de ces histoires en Israël et en Juda du premier millémaire avant notre ère. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Antiguo Oriente is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Yitzhak Magen and his team have secured 395 inscriptions and fragments of inscriptions in Hebrew and Aramaic on the summit of Mount Gerizim. The number of inscriptions in one place is noteworthy, and calls for attention. Another find was made on the island of Delos in the Aegean Sea. Two inscriptions which praise benefactors for their support for the "Israelites who send their temple tax to Argarizein" were uncovered. The author suggests a new understanding of these inscriptions, and by reading them together it is possible to have a unique glimpse of how early Samaritan selfconsciousness took shape by distancing itself from the Jewish position. Many of the phrases in the Gerizim corpus find parallels in comparable material from Egypt, the Sinai peninsula, Mesopotamia and Turkey. The phrase "in this place," however, has no parallels in other inscriptions, and together with the references to the home village of the dedicators this gives an impression of a community dedicated to their own place of worship, Mount Gerizim, and living in its vicinity. The community behind the Delos inscriptions term themselves "Israelites," and directs their religious focus towards Mount Gerizim. This is the earliest attestation of this name for the Samaritans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents two epigraphic artifacts that were recovered in the 1953-1964 excavations at Tel Dothan: a Hebrew bulla and an Aramaic ostracon. It discusses the dating of these artifacts, their archaeological contexts, and their palaeographic proclivities as well as their historical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the presence of Jewish Diaspora in the pre-Islamic Iran and in Central Asia based on the inscription found in an ossuary that is believed to contain the bones of a woman brought from abroad for burial in Jerusalem by her son called Artaka. Topics include the inscription as the archaeological evidence associated with the Parthian Diaspora and its pilgrimages to Jerusalem, the presence of Jewish community in pre-Islamic Iran, and the widespread ossuaries in Central Asia.

This article argues that the practice of micrography, an art form which creates designs and images using miniature Hebrew text, can be found in two of William Blake's late works, the Laocoön and Illustrations of the Book of Job. While Blake is known to have studied Hebrew and to have been influenced by Jewish mysticism, the influence on Blake of Hebrew micrography has been overlooked by scholars. By inscribing his works with this “Hebrew Art,” Blake rewrites the genealogy of western art history, claiming primacy for a unique and independent branch. The reclamation of a uniquely Hebrew art form in his prints allows Blake to pose an alternative to the narrative of classical influence on British art and poetry. It also allows for a new understanding of the breakdown between word and image in Blake. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article offers a new reading of the inscription unearthed in 2012 at the Ophel in Jerusalem. It reexamines its script, language, and vocabulary, as well as its historical and cultural context. In my opinion this text was written in the late Canaanite script, in Hebrew, and it indicates that there were scribes in Jerusalem who were able to write texts as early as the second half of the 10th century BCE. Here is my new transliteration and translation of this inscription: [...]m yyn ḫlq m[...]: '[in the ... year], wine of inferior quality, (sent) from GN'. The inscription is divided into three categories: (a) a date formula; (b) classification of wine; and (c) provenance. The form yyn indicates that the language of this inscription is Hebrew, written in the southern dialect. In Ugaritic, Old Canaanite, Phoenician, Ammonite, and even in Israelite Hebrew as attested in the Samaria Ostraca, wine was typically written with only one yod (yn; ye-nu; indicating the reduction of the diphthong). Yet, in (southern) epigraphic Hebrew at Lachish, Arad and other sites the form is always yyn. Similarly, this form appears in Biblical Hebrew without exception, Ben Sira, Qumran, and even in the Rabbinic sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2009 excavation season at Tall Jalul, Jordan, unearthed three inscribed objects: (1) half of an unusual stamp seal with Hebrew script and part of a scene that may consist of a worshipper in front of a stand, (2) an Ammonite ceramic bulla, and (3) a fragment of an Ammonite ostracon. All three were found in Field D, but not in clear stratigraphic contexts. However, palaeographic analysis suggests the rough dating of these inscriptions: seal--eighth-seventh centuries B.C.; bulla and ostracon--seventh-sixth centuries B.C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article interprets the Greek and Hebrew inscriptions at the Bet Shearim and Joppa catacombs in Palestine that name individuals with the title of rabbi, known as epigraphical rabbis in the seminal paper "Epigraphical Rabbis," by Shayne Cohen. The author focuses on how to relate the identity of these epigraphical rabbis with the rabbis known from literary texts by detailing the issues concerning chronology, distribution, and the evidence for rabbinization in and outside of Palestine.

The article discusses the Judaeo-Persian inscriptions in the tombstones that emerged during the season of the Minaret of J0101m Archaeological Project conducted at J0101m, Afghanistan in 2005. It states that Andrea Bruno discovered the semata, a large stone with inscriptions in Hebrew letters, which he believed to have come from a Jewish cemetery. It says that the inscriptions impart a fascinating insight into the religious demography of Afghanistan during medieval period.

The article presents an analysis of the fragment of a Hebrew inscription on a medieval gravestone discovered in Heidelberg, Germany in 1971. It describes the work of the Qumran expert and theologian Karl Georg Kuhn to decipher the inscription in 2004, and suggests that it is worth taking another detailed look at its meaning and significance, as the piece is a unique witness to the Jewish history of the city of Heidelberg.

The article discusses the significance of medieval aquamanilia in the form of lions with Hebrew inscriptions to be used in the Church liturgy by Jews. It offers information on the structure of medieval aquamanilia where they are made to stand erect with a spout for pouring water extending from the mouth and an opening at the top of the head for filling the vessel. Photographs of several Lion aquamanile are presented with details on Hebrew inscriptions, image, and rib cage.

The article present an interpretation of the messianic figures and a messiah's resurrection and ascension to heaven as depicted in a text titled "Hazon Gabriel" on an inscribed stone. The inscription is divided into two columns. The first pertains to a prophecy regarding the coming destruction of evil within three days and the second part is focused on a promise that God will appear and that his revelation will cause shake the heavens and the earth. Two messianic figures are mentioned in the text, namely, David and Ephraim.

A new epigraphic examination of RS 15.039 has led to reversing the obverse-reverse orientation of the tablet as previously read. The new orientation gives a simple progression from distributions of wine to distributions of a second liquid commodity currently unidentifiable. The philological analysis has led to the conclusion that the recipients of these two commodities do not belong exclusively to the religious sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been substantial discussion about the presence of ‘schools’ in Iron Age Israel (that is, Israel and Judah), with some scholars affirming that there were schools and some positing that there is no cogent evidence for them. Within this article, the Iron Age Old Hebrew epigraphic evidence is analyzed. Based on the nature of the palaeographic evidence, the orthographic evidence, and the use of hieratic numerals, it is here argued that formal, standardized scribal education was a component of ancient Israelite society during Iron II. Of course, some have posited that becoming proficient in the Old Hebrew writing system was so facile that there was no need for formal, standardized education. However, modern empirical studies of the length of time required for proficiency in a first alphabetic writing demonstrate that the field has been too sanguine about the pace of learning the Old Hebrew writing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inscriptions on tombstones provide us with information about the family and society of the deceased. Through a reading of these inscriptions the individual is no longer anonymous. In addition to names, grave inscriptions often contain information on an individual's status and profession, offering us insights into the life of a community which include different classes and professions. The information emphasised in grave inscriptions reveals the values of a society and its traditions. This study investigates the corpus of Hebrew inscriptions on tombstones in Aden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the discovery of an early Torah pointer which originated in Afghanistan. The pointer is an elongated bronze bar with an inscription of mixed Hebrew and Judaeo-Persian characters. The religious inscriptions in Hebrew suggest that the Torah pointer was made for ritual or ceremonial purposes. Particular focus is also given to the translation of the inscriptions and how they relate with the tomb inscriptions from Gh&#016B;r, Afghanistan.

The inscription consists of a sandstone plate, in the size of 24 times 30 cm and about 8 em thick. The plate is broken at the upper edge and has, as it now is at hand, fifteen lines of Hebrew text. The text of the inscription is throughout written without internal matres lectionis, in good accordance with the custom of the ninth century B.G. A palaeographic comparison shows that the alphabet of the inscription is not copied from any other inscription, but the forms of the letters show an inclination to somewhat older forms. According to the original geological investigation, the stone with its inscription is genuine, but many scholars in the field of Hebrew epigraphie are sceptieal. If the inscription is a fake, we also must ask, who made it and why was it made. If it is genuine, we stand before a completely singular document, which in the future will be very important for the study of the Bible and history of Ancient Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines P.C. Schmitz's reading of "Hebrew graffito 6019-a-3," a sherd found in a trash dump during the 1998 season of excavations at Berenike, the Egyptian Red Sea port that handled most of the India trade at the time. Additional evidence of Jews at Berenike; Jewish square letters incised on the sherd; Role of Egypt as port for India, the port used by the Romans for trade with India, at the time of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 70 C.E.; Schmitz's assumption that the text is a Hebrew graffito; Factors that would seem to justify an attempt to read sherd's inscription as Aramaic; Paleographic evidence.

Reports that George Atlas has published the first dissertation on the "House of David" or "Tel Dan inscription" fragments discovered in 1993 and 1994. Atlas' focus on its epigraphy and paleography; Theory on the production of the stele and the constellation of the fragments; Dating of the inscription to 795 BCE; Identification of the language as Aramaic.

The nature of the phrase yhwh ⊡ebā'ôt is considered in light of similar phrases involving the proper name Resheph, occurring in various Near Eastern and Phoenician inscriptions. An examination of the various uses of ršp modified by a genitive, and hence a proper name which is doubly determined, indicates that a proper name in construct is not problematic. Further, the uses indicate that some genitive relationships between a proper name and common noun function to highlight the essence or specific attribute of a deity. This is supported by several iconographic representations of Resheph. This same function, then, of highlighting a particular trait of a deity, may be at work in the phrase yhwh ⊡ebā'ôt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews several articles about theology. 'The Anchor on the Coins of Judaea,' by David M. Jacobson; 'A Testimony Collection in Manchester: Papyrus Rylands Greek 460,' by Alessandro Falcetta; 'Introduction to 'The Hebrew Inscriptions from Sardis,' by David Gordon Mitten.

Analyzes the Hebrew inscriptions found in the Sardis Synagogue in Turkey. Description of the inscriptions; Interpretation of the inscriptions; Characters found in the inscriptions; Paleographical evidences recognized from the inscriptions.