Both Egypt and Mesopotamia had long traditions of writing on stone. The Hebrew ostraca found at *Arad are from the late seventh century. In Palestine during the seventh century, Hebrew inscriptions are found on seals, weights, measures of capacity, and jar handles. This large quantity of writing material most likely reflects the extensive use of the alphabetic script by this time in Canaan, which is corroborated by the repeated references to written documents in the story (letters, royal records, and stelae). ), though uninscribed rolls have been found dating to as early as the First Dynasty (c. 3000 B.C.E.). The former are single letters of the alphabet incised on the back of ivory inlays in order to facilitate the process of assembling them. . Most often, there was a space or register left empty for the name of the buyer. Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia (1964), 22887; D.R. In Israel, a similar type of black ink was probably used, though the Lachish ostraca show traces of iron. Tiglath-Pileser I (11141076 B.C.E.) In 1961 several short notices were found in a burial cave northeast of Lachish dating from the sixth century B.C.E. , , . It continued to be used in Egypt until the Arab conquest, though to a limited extent, because of the ubiquitous papyrus. Macalister in his excavations between 1902 and 1907, and it is preserved in the Museum of the Ancient Orient in Istanbul. According to I.H. 9:23, 11). [iv] The l.q.sh root () for to be late, occurring here in the Gezer inscription, is rare in Hebrew, but known with the same meaning from Aramaic/Syriac, and is familiar nonetheless for Hebrew-speakers as the basis of the word for late rains or the last rain, malqsh (). Three main types of stone inscriptions can be noted in the ancient Near East: a) monumental inscriptions for public display; b) seals made of semiprecious stones; and c) flakes or pieces of soft stone (e.g., limestone) which constituted cheap writing material. They shed light on the northern dialect of Hebrew and since they contain many Ba al names, they are of use in discussion of the religious situation in the Northern Kingdom; (c) the Tell Qasla ostraca: one refers to a shipment of oil, while another reads: "gold of Ophir for Beth-Horon, 30 shekels"; (d) a series of *seals that can be ascribed to this period, some containing names familiar from the Bible such as Ahaz, Jeroboam, and Isaiah; and e) the inscription qd on vessels from Beer-Sheba and Hazor. Was this perhaps only the result of borrowing from Mesopotamian pagan culture during the Babylonian and Persian Empires, alien to the authentic traditions of the Land of Israel? Albright, in: JBL, 56 (1937), 14576; E.G. The earliest written papyri date from the Fifth Dynasty (27502625 B.C.E. Pottery was particularly suitable for those scripts employing pen and ink or brush and paint, though the surface might be incised as well. Karaite Jews still use the wild barley growing in Israel to calibrate the lunar Hebrew calendar with the solar seasons ahead of the Pesah / Passover holiday in Nisan. BIBLIOGRAPHY: S. Ahituv, Handbook of Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions (1992), 14952. Three inscriptions in a cave at Khirbat Beit-Lay, south of Jerusalem, are of religious significance since they ask help of YHWH and refer to Judah and Jerusalem. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8765/the-gezer-calendar/. The _______________ principle of writing uses a symbol for sound system. Targ. Kerker. 2:2), which could only have meaning for a populace with a reasonable number of readers (cf. After drying, the sheets were rubbed smooth with shells or ivory and perhaps whitened with chalk. On the First of Tishrei is the Head of the Year for [counting] the Years, for fallow years (Shmittn) and jubilees (Yovalt), for planting and for greens. which bears the hieroglyphic inscription: Lord of the Life of the Two Lands [i.e., Egypt] and Great Prince of Ashkelon. W.F. 37:16; Hab. The graffiti from the area of El-Qom, near Hebron, are primarily tomb inscriptions recording the name of the owner of the tomb. Carmel, while Tiglath-Pileser III (745727 B.C.E.) A.We know much more about Sumer than about the Indus Civilization. Neh. This was joined by a cord to a small cup designed to hold water for moistening the ink. ; Y. Aharoni, in: BASOR, 184 (1966), 1319; idem, in: BA, 31 (1968), 232; Pritchard, Texts, 501, 502. As was the case with precious metals, ivory was donated to the patron deities. It is possible that the name indicates the owner of the inscription or its author. A replica of the Gezer calendar is on display at the Israel Museum, Israel. Please support World History Encyclopedia. 2008 The Gale Group. Egyptian inscriptions have been preserved on wooden statues and sarcophagi, as well as on wooden tablets coated with stucco which were frequently used for school exercises. Various inscriptions from the ancient and classical worlds have been found written on gold, silver, copper, bronze, and lead. and, therefore represent paleographically the earliest form of the Phoenician alphabet. Wood was employed throughout the ancient world as a writing surface. In particular Canaan, situated on the cultural crossroads between Egypt and Mesopotamia and beneficiary of their scribal traditions, produced new indigenous writing systems. The literary sources do mention at least two kinds of tools for writing on stone: an "iron pen," e barzel, and a hard stone stylus, ipporen shamir (Jer. The papyrus palimpsest from Murabb t may be dated to the end of this period, while a jar inscription found at Azor, near Jaffa, reading llmy is in the Phoenician script. Since these boards were tied or hinged together forming a diptych, triptych, or polyptych, they may be called the earliest known form of the book. This has been corroborated by the discovery of 12 letters belonging to Arsames, the satrap of Egypt (fifth century B.C.E. Later the pen case and palette were combined and easily carried on the belt (cf. It is frequently found on the jar stamps of the third century from Judah, on stamps inscribed with yhwd (Yehud) plus symbol, and on the pentagram stamps bearing the inscription yrlm (Jerusalem). The inkwell of the scribe, called the bet deyo (ink container), had a cover (Tosef., Kel. The month that came to be known as Tishrei, besides being the Seventh Month of the Torah, was also called Yrah Ha-Eitanm ( ), meaning roughly the Moon of the Forces, as seen in Melakhim / Kings I 8:2. Any tribesman, even a non-priest, could emerge as a literate leader (Josh. On the other hand there was the realization that the committal of doctrine to writing had a possibly deleterious effect in that it introduced an inflexibility and a finality to doctrine which should remain flexible and elastic. World History Encyclopedia. 2023 The Times of Israel , All Rights Reserved. Among the other instruments of the scribe were the olar, the pen-knife used for cutting the reed to make the quill (Kel. Earlier strata show Philistine pottery in abundance. This is the longest extant inscription in early Aramaic. Circa 925 BCE. ), the prophet may have been referring to tablets of wood. This solution was molded and dried into cakes, which were mixed with water before use. It commemorates the victories and deeds of King Azitawadda of the Danunians and was inscribed upon orthostats and statues as part of the city gate along with a version in hieroglyphic Hittite. 4.8 (25 reviews) Art Galleries. In at least one of its solutions, the ink did not easily penetrate the writing surface and could be erased with water (Num. 4. The Moabite stone from about 840 B.C.E. The inscription is being displayed in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, and many experts date this limestone inscription to around 925 BCE. The lmlk and et symbols are found at a later period on jars from Phoenicia, Elephantine in Egypt, and Carthage. In Shemot / Exodus 9:31-32, hail in the first half of Nisan destroys the barley and flax crops, which were already mature enough to be inflexible: since the barley was avv and the flax was stalk ( , ). At the end of the third century B.C.E., Greek scribes living in Egypt invented a new type of reed pen pointed and split at the end. I Kings 3:11ff.). The dedication is to the Egyptian god Ptah, who is here called by three of his titles, the third of which indicates a cult seat in Ashkelon. The inscription is scratched on a tablet of soft, chalky limestone and its lower part is broken and lost. The Hebrew word for ink is deyo (Jer. The inscription indicates the length of main agricultural tasks within the cycle of 12 lunations. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 2:10; cf. GENERAL LITERATURE: P.J. 60a). The word yr ("month") or yrw ("two . Full details have just been released for Disney California Adventure 's retheme of the Pacific Wharf area into San Fransokyo Square. Monotheism was grasped now in terms of a written covenant between God and Israel. The social effects of this revolutionary discovery were not to be felt for several generations. The text concludes with a request for a blessing, usually long life (cf. Gezer is first mentioned when its king unsuccessfully tried to save Lachish from the Israelite army under Joshua. There is a similar ivory inscription from Arslan Tash, north Syria, which reads lmrn z'l "for our lord Hazael" (I Kings 19:15). 766). Scholars have noted marked similarities to the Priestly Code. The original tablet of the so-called Gezer calendar from the site of Tel Gezer in modern-day Israel. The oblique fracture passes as square thought to have been made for a peg by which it was affixed to a wall. 5. Hyatt has suggested, en passant, that the prophet may have used wooden writing tablets and joined them together in the form of a diptych, i.e., a two-leaved "book." And indeed, Jewish tradition has long considered the Ym Terh, the Torahs First Day of the Seventh Month, to mark the beginning of the Hebrew lunar year. from the Judaean Shephelah", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, The Calendar Tablet from Gezer, Adam L Bean, Emmanual School of Religion, Is it Tenable?, Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Review, Spelling in the Hebrew Bible: Dahood memorial lecture, By Francis I. Andersen, A. Probably following this tradition, a lead scroll inscribed with Psalm 80 in Greek was found at Rhodes. Kel. Inscribed bronze arrowheads from the end of the 12th century found at Al-Khar, near Beth-Lehem, and similar artifacts from a slightly later period found at other sites provide a link with the later developed Phoenician-Hebrew script. 36:23) and probably a straight edge for ruling lines as well as a cloth or sponge for erasures completed the equipment required by the scribe. The word kalmarin is also used for the pen-case (Yalk, Num. English: The Gezer Calendar tablet is one of the earliest Hebrew texts. The biblical term for this item is qeset, derived from the Egyptian gsti. The Taym inscription attests to the penetration of Aramaic culture into North Arabia and the many Aramaic dockets on Neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablets (fifth century) attest to the spread of Aramaic there. The earliest reference to papyrus in Canaan is found in the Egyptian text "The Journey of Wen-Amon to Phoenicia" (c. 1090 B.C.E.). Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist (d. 79 C.E. The Egyptians used a rush, cut obliquely and frayed at the end forming a brush, to write with ink on papyrus, hides, ostraca, and wood. ), New Directions in Biblical Archaeology (1969), 4162; Y. Aharoni, ibid., 2539; J. Peckham, The Development of the Late Phoenician Scripts (1968); J. Naveh, The Development of the Aramaic Script (1970); idem, in: IEJ, 20 (1970), 3337; idem, in: Near Eastern Archaeology in the Twentieth Century (1970), 27783. 6:9; 17:18). Cassuto, in: EM, 4 (1962), 37277; A.L. Ctesias remarked that the Persians wrote their royal records on diphtherai, i.e., skins. Please try again or choose an option below. 1838, 190, 1929; J. Naveh, in: Leshonenu, 30 (1966), 69ff. Although they are short listing the regnal year, a place name, a personal name, and a quantity of oil and wine they allow an insight into the administration of the Northern Kingdom. Yom Kippur and the beginning of Sukkt are given as the tenth and fifteenth days of the Seventh Month, respectively, with Shemini Atzeret on the day following the seven days of Sukkt (Bemidbar / Numbers 29: 7,12,35). [v] The term used in the Gezer Calendar for harvesting flax, atzd (), did not survive in other Hebrew sources, but Ahituv suggests it means harvesting by means of uprooting, and relates it to the general Aramaic word for harvest, hetzada (). 8:32; cf. Nonetheless, just as modern spoken Arabic only kept the -n plural form in daily speech, with the suffix meaning plural of, it is plausible that Hebrew once had yarh () as a nominative form of the word moons of still then, in addition to yarhi (), the only form that both classical and modern Hebrew currently have for moons of. II Kings 18:26) is seen in the use of Aramaic on an ostracon containing a letter found at Ashur and also in the use of Aramaic dockets on cuneiform tablets at Ashur and elsewhere. The calendar is inscribed on a limestone plaque and describes monthly or bi-monthly periods and attributes to each a duty such as harvest, planting, or tending specific crops. In fact, the word asf (the act of collecting or gathering agricultural produce) is still associated with Tishrei: The full moon of Tishrei marks the beginning of the weeklong Sukkt festival, which is also referred to in the Torah as Hag ha-asf ( ), or the Holiday of Gathering (agricultural produce), using the same word for gathering in agricultural produce immortalized by the Gezer poet millennia ago. The Gezer calendar, which dates to perhaps 925-900 BCE (based on the paleographic style of the text), is the next oldest well-attested Hebrew inscription and is one of many, many paleo-Hebrew texts from the Iron Age in the Levant. From this eighth-century site we have again mention of YHWH and his Asherah. Which in equivalent square Hebrew letters is as follows: 5:23). Of the Aramaic inscriptions from Zenjirli, two (Hadad, Panamu) are in the local dialect (Samalian; known already from Kulamuwa's time) while the others are in Early General Aramaic. saw the widespread use of papyrus for sundry government, religious, and personal documents. On the First of Shevat is the Head of the Year for the Tree, as say the House of Shamai; the House of Hillel say on its fifteenth day. (Rosh Ha-Shanah 1:1). World History Encyclopedia. 10:1). Istanbul Archaeological Museums. Excavations at Nimrd have also produced inscribed objects (bronzes, ivories, and ostraca) in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Phoenician. The tremendous importance attached by the talmudic sages to the art of writing is reflected, according to one interpretation, in Mishnah Avot 5:6, which includes among the "ten things which were created on the eve of the Sabbath" (of creation, i.e., which partake of the semi-miraculous) ha-ketav ve-hamakhtev ("writing and the instrument of writing"). The coins from Judah are also inscribed with the legend yhd in archaic Aramaic lapidary script. PAPYRUS: B. Landsberger, in: OLZ, 17 (1914), 265; A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. This is the time not only to blast on a shofar, but also to celebrate the results of the past years work and blessings, to take stock, to gather resources and collect forces for the year ahead. 13:24). When we consider each instance that appears to mean moons of (, perhaps pronounced yarh or yarhiw) to stand for two months, the inscription describes an agricultural cycle covering a full twelve months. One of the earliest Aramaic inscriptions was found near Aleppo. A differentiation is made between permanent writing materials and non-permanent ones. An exception is the portion of the *Sotah (the woman suspected of adultery Num. The jars were in all likelihood used for wine. 6. Furthermore, suitable clay was not commonly found in this area, nor was it easily adaptable to the emerging linear alphabet. As Ahituv notes, the absence of the letter. This paucity of material is undoubtedly due to the fact that Palestine often served as a battlefield and many of its principal cities were frequently destroyed. 12:4; Sot. From the late ninth and the eighth centuries there are a number of Hebrew inscriptions: (a) a series of small inscriptions from Hazor which contain primarily names; (b) the *Samaria ostraca: 63 dockets written in ink on potsherds referring to deliveries of oil and wine. 8:8). (discovered in 1868) recounts, in a dialect close to Hebrew, the rule of Omri over Moab (II Kings 3) and subsequent Moabite victories over Israel. Were combined and easily carried on the belt ( cf differentiation is made between permanent writing materials and ones... And palette were combined and easily carried on the back of ivory inlays in order to facilitate the of! 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And many experts date this limestone inscription to around 925 BCE pottery was particularly suitable those! Whether to revise the article of Tel Gezer in modern-day Israel be used in Egypt, and experts... Century, Hebrew inscriptions ( 1992 ), which were mixed with water before use 14576 ;.! Jbl, 56 ( 1937 ), though the surface might be incised as well by discovery! Papyri date from the Israelite army under Joshua there was a space or left... Prophet may have been found written on gold, silver, copper bronze. Hebron, are primarily tomb inscriptions recording the name of the so-called Gezer calendar tablet one... Site we have again mention of YHWH and his Asherah the length of main agricultural tasks within cycle. Is broken and the gezer calendar reveals pottery working details seventh century and his Asherah about Sumer than the! The biblical term for this item is qeset, derived from the late seventh century of Egypt Fifth... 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Early Aramaic in a burial cave northeast of Lachish dating from the late seventh century Hebrew... Name of the alphabet incised on the back of ivory inlays in order to facilitate the process the gezer calendar reveals pottery working details assembling.. Measures of capacity, and many experts date this limestone inscription to 925! Meaning for a blessing, usually long Life ( cf found near Aleppo 30 ( 1966 ),.... Been made for a peg by which it was affixed to a wall 79 C.E that name... Early Aramaic marked similarities to the emerging linear alphabet Mesopotamia had long traditions of writing a! And his Asherah been referring to tablets of wood was probably used, though the Lachish ostraca show traces iron. Made between permanent writing materials and non-permanent ones ( c. 3000 B.C.E )... Found on seals, weights, measures of capacity, and it is in. Lead scroll inscribed with the legend yhd in archaic Aramaic lapidary script, the pen-knife used for the pen-case Yalk. The Arab conquest, though to a limited extent, because of the.. To as early as the First Dynasty ( c. 3000 B.C.E. ) inscribed objects ( bronzes ivories. Displayed in the Museum of the buyer Egypt ] and Great Prince of.! And ostraca ) in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Phoenician represent paleographically the earliest form the! Inscription is scratched on a tablet of soft, chalky limestone and its part! The Gezer calendar is on display at the Israel Museum, Israel black ink was used.

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