Table Of ContentA New Reading SuggestionFor The First Word In The
"ʾIŠBAʿAL INSCRIPTION" From Khirbet Qeiyafa
By Yariv hacham
In order to understand this commentary the reader has to read first the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription
from Khirbet Qeiyafa" article (see References)
Khirbet Qeiyafa Location: 27 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem and 4 kilometers south of beat
shemesh (fig.1)
Era: Iron Age, early 10th century BC; Hellenistic
Fig.1. a modern map of the area. Note the proximity of Khirbet Qeiyafa to Gezer Tel Zayit and Jerusalem
Khirbet Qeiyafa Inscriptions: two inscriptions wewe published so far from this site. the
inscriptions are dated to the early 10th century BC
1. Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon: A 15×16.5 cm ostracon, a trapezoid-shaped potsherd with five
lines of text, was discovered during the 2008 excavations season.
Fig.1. a modern map of the area, note proximity of Khirbet Qeiyafa to gezer and tel zayit
2. The "Išbaʿ" inscription was discovered during the 2012 excavations season, the letters were
inscribed on a shoulder of a ceramic jar.
This article refers to the "Išbaʿal" inscription.
Fig .2.The inscription on the jar after restoration (photo by t. rogozin Israel Antiquities Authority)
The inscription has four words and was written from right to left
The first word (from the right): only some Letters Fragment can be identified from the first word,
due to missing pieces of pottery that was not found in the excavations.
The second word: is "ʾIŠBAʿAL"= "לעבשא", a personal name1, all the letters are legible except the
"lamed" which is slightly damaged
The third word: is "BN"= "נב", which mean "son" or "son of ", the two letters have been damaged,
still it can be read almost certainty as "BN"= "נב".
ʿ
The forth word: is " BD "= "עדב" probably a personal name (as the inscription points BDʿ is
IŠBAʿAL father name), all three letters are complete and legible.
This article suggests a new reading for the first word.
1 See the biblical name "ʾIŠBAʿAL" in 1 Chronicles Chapter 8 verse 33 and 1 Chronicles Chapter 9 verse 39
Fig .2.The inscription on the jar after restoration (photo by t. rogozin Israel Antiquities Authority)
Letters Fragment of the first word from the left
Fig .3. the first word Letters Fragment from the right of the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
Fig .2.The inscription on the jar after restoration (photo by t. rogozin Israel Antiquities Authority)
The Author suggestion to complete the original first word
Fig .4. Author completion of the first word from the right in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
Inscription"
Fig .2.The inscription on the jar after restoration (photo by t. rogozin Israel Antiquities Authority)
Letters comparison of the two Inscription from Khirbet Qeiyafa
Fig .5. the Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon
First letter
Fig. 6. Fragments of the three edges from the first letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
The trivial suggestion for this letter is "Kaph" , as pointed above the Author suggestion
is to complete the three edges of the original letter to a "Mem" .
Hebrew letter Qeiyafa Ostracon ʾIšbaʿal Inscription
"מ" No complete "mem" has been salvaged
r
"mem"
Table 1. The letter "Mem" in Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon and the ʾIšbaʿal Inscription.
"Mem" : all 4 "Mem" letters (see Fig .5 in red circles) in the Qeiyafa Ostracon are vertical.
*note that every "Mem" letter of the four has the three edges.
Letters lineup and orientation in Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon
H ebrew letter Qeiyafa Ostracon ʾIšbaʿal Inscription
r "א"
"Alef "
Table 2. The letter "Alef" in and the ʾIšbaʿal Inscription
"Alef" : there is at least four "Alef" letters (see Fig .5 in blue circles) in the Ostracon , two
"Alef" letters are in the same lineup, the other two "Alef" letters are each in a different
orientation.
in summery there are three different orientations to the "Alef" of the Qeiyafa Ostracon.
Hebrew letter Qeiyafa Ostracon ʾIšbaʿal Inscription
"ל"
r
" Lamed "
Table 3. The letter " Lamed " in Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon and the ʾIšbaʿal Inscription
"Lamed" - there are two recognizable "Lamed" letters (see Fig .5 in green circles)in the
Qeiyafa Ostracon, each letter is in different orientation.
As can be seen in the Qeiyafa Ostracon, some letter are written in different orientations
along the Inscription, although the "Mem" in the Qeiyafa Ostracon is consistently written in
a vertical orientation, the "Alef" and "Lamed" direction is written according to the free
imagination of the writer, this phenomenon of inconsistently letter lineup is well known in
the Proto-Canaanite inscriptions.
the early 10th century BC was the transition era between the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and
the Phoenician alphabet, inscriptions as Ahiram sarcophagus and the Mesha Stele (9th
century BC) has fixed linup and orientation of the letters.
Therefore the three edges that remain from the first letter can be either a "Kaph" or the
letter "Mem" in a horizontal lineup.
Inconsistent lineup of the letter "Mem" in ancient levant inscriptions
In the Wadi el-Ḥôl , two inscriptions have been found, the dating (by epigraphy) is to the
th th
18 – 15 century BCE.
1. horizontal inscription - the two "Mem" letters are in a vertical
lineup(see Fig. 7).
2. vertical inscription – one "Mem" letter in a horizontal lineup
(see Fig. 8).
Fig. 7. Wadi el-Hol horizontal Inscription Fig. 8. Wadi el-Hol vertical Inscription
Fig. 6. Fragments from the first letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription F" i g. 6. Fragm ents from the first letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
Fig. 6. Fragments from the first letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription F" i g. 6. Fragm ents from the first letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
Roughly tens of Proto-Canaanite in scriptions have been found in Serabit el-Khadim, the dating is
th th
to the 17 – 16 BCE.
Fig. 10. Sinai 346 Fig. 9. Sinai 346
Fig. 10. Sinai 345
Fig. 11. Sinai 351
Fig. 6. Fragments from the first letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
Fig. 6. Fragments from the first letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
The letter "Mem" in 10 century BCE inscription
As can be seen in the map (Fig.1) the closest ancient sites in distance to Khirbet Qeiyafa Are
Beit Shemesh, Tel Gezer and Tel zayit , at these three sits archaeologist excavated 10 century
BCE settlement and found inscriptions from the same layer (in Beit Shemesh two 12 century
BCE inscription were found) .
Fig. 12. Two "Mem" letter from the Gezer calendar Fig. 13. The letter "Mem" in the Tel zait inscription
inscription
The Gezer calendar and the Tel zait inscrip tion
Although the two inscriptions (see Fig. 12 and Fig. 13) are dated to the same general era (10
century BCE) the "Mem" of the Gezer calendar is vertical and the Tel zait inscription
"Mem" is horizontal.
In conclusion
the three edges that remain from the first letter of the first word from the right in theʾIšbaʿal
Inscription can be:
1. The letter "Kaph".
2. The letter "Mem".
Second letter
Fig. 15. Fragments from the second letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription" Fig. 14. Fragments from the second letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
"Gimel" – unfortunately we don’t have a recognizable "Gimel" neither in the Qeiyafa
Ostracon nor in the Gezer calendar.
The closest "Gimel" letter (that I found) from the 10 century BCE is of the Tel zait
inscription, among the 9 century BCE inscriptions we have the Tel Dan Stele and the
Moabite Mesha Stele (Table.4)
inscription "Gimel" letter Era (century BCE)
Tel Zait inscription 10
Tel Dan Stele 9
Mesha Stele 9
Table 4.the letter "Gimel" in 10 and 9 century BCE inscription
The Tel Zait inscription "Gimel" highly matches the Second letter Fragment from the
ʾIšbaʿal Inscription. The Tel Dan Stele and the Mesha Stele "Gimel" is mostly the same
shape but in a slightly different angle.
In conclusion
As suggested above , a vertical line added to the horizontal line fragment (that remained from
the Second letter) completes this letter to a "Gimel".
Third letter
Fig. 15. Fragments from the third letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
"Resh" or "Qoph" – according to the shape of the letter it could be either one.
Table.5 presents the two letters in four different inscriptions from the 10 century BCE
inscription " Resh" letter "Qoph " letter
Qeiyafa Ostracon
Tel Zait inscription
Gezer calendar
Ophel inscription
Table 5.the letter "Resh" and "Qoph" in 10 century BCE
inscription
Qeiyafa Ostracon: As can be seen, after the analysis of the Qeiyafa Ostracon the epigraphic
conclusion is indeterminate regarding what symbol is which letter. Of the three symbols that
match the general shape of the letters, two have a round "head" and one has a triangle head.
Tel Zait inscription, gezer colander and the Ophel inscription: the letter "Qoph" has a
round "head" with a line that splits it into two halves, the "Resh" has a full triangle head.
In conclusion
the Third letter fragments can be Interpreted as two optional letters "Qoph" or "Resh", as
can be seen in Table 5 the two letters are highly similar, decision what letter is the Third
simbol in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription" will have to rely on the general meaning of the first
word in the whole inscription.
Fourth letter
Fig. 16. Fragments from the fourth letter in the "ʾIšbaʿal Inscription"
conclusion
The two fragments that survived from the fourth letter are in a 90 lineup each to the other ,
the trivial completion for this letter is a " Tav" (last letter in the Hebrew alphabet).
Meaning of the first word
as suggested above (Fig. 4), the first word of the Išbaʿal Inscription is "תרגמ", this four
letters are the base of the well known Hebrew word "הרוגממ which means Granary or a
kind of a storage place, we find this root in the bible in sevral verses.
The word "תוֹרגֻ מְּ מַ " appear in the book of Joel chapter 1 verse 17 , the verse refers to the
ruin Granary, the Joel granary come in a multiple form (many grains).
" .ןגָ דָ ,שׁיבִֹּה יכִּ :תוֹרגֻ מְּ מַ וסרְ הֶ נֶ ,תוֹרצָֹא ומּשַׁ נָ --םהֶ יתֵֹפרְ גְ מֶ תחַ תַ ,תוֹדרֺ פְ ושׁבְ עָ .זי " א לאֵ וֹי
Joel chapter 1 verse 17 " The grains shrivel under their hoes; the garners are laid desolate,
the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered."
The singular form of granary can be found in the book of Haggai Chapter 2 verse 19
".ךְרֵ בָ אֲ ,הֶזהַ םוֹטהַ -ןמִּ --אשָ נָ אלֹ ,תיִַּזהַ ץעֵ וְ ןוֹמּרִּ הָ וְ הנָ אֵ תְ הַ וְ ןפֶ גֶ הַ -דעַ וְ ,הרָ וּגמְּ בַ ,ערַ ֶזהַ דוֹעהַ טי " ב יגח
Haggai Chapter 2 verse 19 " is the seed yet in the barn? yea, the vine, and the fig-tree, and
the pomegranate, and the olive-tree hath not brought forth--from this day will I bless you."
