Monday, 15th February 2010
Prof. Bezalel Porten (Hebrew University Jerusalem
THE JOY OF STUDYING ARAMAIC OSTRACA
In the last two decades there have come to light some 1700 Aramaic ostraca, spanning the years 362 to 302 and believed to have come from the vicinity of Hebron, situated in what was ancient Idumea (Biblical Edom). They made their appearance on the antiquities market and were grabbed up by eager collectors, who made them available to enthusiastic scholars, who published them in record time. Three major publications have already appeared and a fourth is on the way. The editors of one of these books never saw the actual ostraca and worked only from photographs. Today, their black and white pictures are no longer considered adequate. All photos must be digital. Each piece is shot twice, dry and wetted, and also a third enhanced print is produced. Aided by these three prints, each piece is hand-copied at source. Deciphering a piece is often like solving a puzzle. Initial readings that don't make sense need be challenged. Thus the letter qof in the incomprehensible name Shaqaniqos could be broken into the two letters ayin and a dalet, yielding the hitherto unknown but comprehensible name Saadaniqos, "Qos has helped me." This reading was validated in two other ostraca, each from a different collection. A daring reading in a third ostracon produced the name Rabsaadani, "The Great One helped me." Most unexpected is a land description text which opens with mention of "the ruin of the temple of YHW" and closes with reference to two private tombs. Three ostraca for Óaggu/Óagagu b. Baalsamak clarify the historical question of when Antigonus replaced Alexander IV. Four ostraca demonstrate the agricultural work detail of the major clans and two illustrate a 6+ month run of a single scribe recording 17 chits for wheat flour. Finally, we survey the many different logos by which scribes sealed their documents and view two that were both unique and colorful.
Bezalel Porten is professor emeritus in the department of Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has written widely on the Aramaic papyri and ostraca stemming from the Jewish community of Elephantine, Egypt from the fifth century B.C.E.
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