Ostracon

Abstract: The latest number of the invaluable journal Iraq (Vol. XIX, Part 2) contains an important article by J. B. Segal on \"An Aramaic Ostracon from Nimrud \" (pp. 139-145). In it Segal publishes a sherd with eleven lines of Aramaic script, written on both sides. While the ostracon contains only a list of names of men and (in most cases) of their fathers, with \" son of \" between them, it is unusually significant. Segal has spared no pains to decipher and interpret the names, and his conclusions are nearly always sound, as far as they go. I have a few observations to make on the reading of individual letters, as well as on the interpretation of the names, but my chief interest is in the date of the text and the geographical provenience of the names. In the following transliteration all the consonants of the original text are written with capitals while my vocalization is indicated by small letters; remarks supplementing Segal's own excellent treatment or correcting details will be found in the footnotes.

Abstract: L'ostracon de Mesad Hashavyahu (7e s. av. J.-C.) a ete interprete comme une allegation de gzl, une requete extra-judiciaire adressee au roi ou a ses subordonnes, en cas d'abus de pouvoir impliquant une saisie arbitraire de propriete. L'auteur presente ici de nouveaux temoins allant dans le sens de cette interpretation, a savoir un type de procedures similaires decouvertes dans le Livre de Samuel (2 Sam. 14 : 2-22), confirmant la caractere de petition extra-judiciaire de l'ostracon en question

Abstract: A newly discovered ostracon at Khirbet Qeiyafa which dates from about 1000 BC is a welcome addition to the meagre examples of writing which survive from that period. The letters are difficult to read and the language may be Hebrew, Canaanite, Phoenician or Moabite. Translations range from a list of names to commands concerning social justice. The simplest explanation is that this is a list of Hebrew and Canaanite names written by someone unused to writing. They help to suggest that writing was practised by non-scribes, so the skill may have been widespread.

Abstract: (Extrait de Res.d'A.). Despite the fact that more than half the words of the inscription are undecipherable, those that remain give the impression that this was an unconventional document. The content is never eonomic nor administrative (like most 8th-6th centuries B.C.E. ostraca from Israel and Judah), but rather of a literary character couched in elevated biblical language. (...).