Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions

Pithos A shows five figures. There are a bull and calf. A seated musician or weaver is to one side. An inscription in the pithos mentions "Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah."

This image was "one of the most popular motifs of the first millennium in Western Asia," but originated earlier still.

The Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions refers to a set of jar and plaster inscriptions, stone incisions, and art discovered at the site of Kuntillet Ajrud. They were found at a unique Judean crossroads location that was among an unusual number and variety of vessels and other inscriptions. ^[4] They date to the late 9th century BC ^[5] in the Sinai Peninsula. ^[6]

July 9, 1976 "The inscriptions at the site are unusually poetic and religious."

Alternate spellings include Contellet Garaiyeh, here, as well as Kuntilet Quraiyah, Al Kuntillah, simply Kuntilla.

The finds were discovered during excavations in 1975–1976, during the Israeli occupation of the Sinai peninsula, but were not published in first edition until 2012. ^{[9] [10]}

The "shocking" and "exceedingly controversial" ^[11] inscriptions have been called "the pithoi that launched a thousand articles" ^[12] due to their influence on the fields of Ancient Near East and Biblical studies, raising and answering many questions about the relationship of Yahweh and Asherah.

Description

The most famous ^[13] inscriptions are found on two pithoi, ^[14] especially Pithos A, obverse pictured. The central figures are human-bovine and have writing above their heads. The lyre player ^[15] (or weaver ^[16] ), seated and about the same size as the standing figures, bears the same polka dot pattern. The suckling motif (𓃖) with the quadrupedal animals is also quite central, but less mysterious. The identification of the standing figures remains a matter of dispute among scholars. ^[17]

Wall inscriptions were in black and red^{[ clarification needed ]} on plaster. ^[18] At least one piece is a multi-color work. Contributing to difficulty, the "incriptions (sic) reveal odd data at different angles" ^[19] or photos may mislead.

The reverse of pithos A has a line of ambiguous mammals including most clearly a boar. The remaining below, drawn more confidently, are all goddess symbols: a pair of caprids flanking a sacred tree, on bottom a lion. The central figure:

"It is mainly a tree trunk with branches and shoots coming out from it, eight in flower and eight in bud. Pirhiya Beck notes that the tree may be compared with Phoenician examples which show lotus and bud. Its overall form, however, is curious. The flowers are not quite lotuses. The trunk seems like that of a palm tree, but at the top of the trunk is a feature that looks rather like a large almond nut, with the pits of its shell clearly shown. Interestingly, three main branches come from each side of the trunk, and the other two flowering shoots and two minor budding shoots (or shoots with small almond nuts) come from the ’almond’ motif. Like the menorah, then, this representation of an asherah has three branches coming from each side of a central trunk. As we have seen, in the drawings of the Lachish ewer, the trees shown also have three branches coming from a central trunk and look very like menorot. In the Ta’anach stands, the tree is an upright trunk with several furled fronds coming out from the two sides; in one case six and in the other eight. ^[20]

Pithos B has figures in a jubilating attitude and other elements. There are a couple half-complete drawings of an archer and plenty of animals, also often incomplete due to artist's or history's caprice.^{[ citation needed ]}

Dwarfing the other pieces of art is a partial wall painting on (again) white plaster, with black and red paint like the rest, adding yellow. It's a seated figure, with neither breasts nor beard; perhaps a younger male god or prince. A lotus is near or touching his mouth, like the lotus touching the male's face on jar A.^{[ citation needed ]}

Inscriptions

Series 1 are carved into the tops of stone bowls, one of them quite massive and if made offsite an ordeal to carry. The short carvings on them are translated as mostly light fare like blessings and personal names. Series 2 of inscriptions are carved into pottery before firing. 3 and 4 below are jars and wall plaster.^{[ citation needed ]}

Pithos A

Large letters deeply wet-carved into a shoulder of it read 𐤒𐤓, qof-resh or QR. ^[21] The abundance of text on the same surface as a variety of visual art is unusual and complementary, adding to alphabetic and cultural development understanding.

There is a common two-bovine motif. Many have written on a connection to abundance, fertility, goddesses. Meshel says the udders are poorly drawn; others point out it is a bull.^{[ citation needed ]} The suckling motif is ubiquitous in the ancient world, seen in Syrian ivory, Egyptian hieroglyph, ^[22] Semitic pottery, ^[23] and more.

An early interspecies variant from temple of Ninhursag

The seated figure is called a musician or weaver, though she's holding her instrument wrong in either case. ^[9] The central figures have been identified as either representations of Yahweh and Asherah, the Egyptian dwarf-god Bes or Bes-like deities, or even as demonic ritual dancers. ^[17] They appear bull-faced, bipedal, and wearing hats or crowns.

The bipedal figures here and on jar B are shown with energetic polka dots, which Meshel says must be symbolic, ie not clothing. ^[24] In fact dots are a common motif in Sinai and elsewhere.

Meshel 3.1

(1.) ʾmr ʾšyw hm[l]k ʾmr lyhlyw wlywʿšh wl [ ... ] brkt ʾtkm lyhwh šmrn wlʾšrth

"Says ʾAšiyaw the k[in]g: Say to Yahēliyaw, and to Yawʾāsah, and to [...] blessed are you all to Yahweh of Samaria, and to his Asherah". ^[25]

Pithos B

After figs mnopq, the matchstick-armed jubilant are in slightly rectilinear style.

The second jar follows A's unbroken single line of text with many short lines. You can see interpretation of "carriage returns" or breaks within words.

Meshel 3.6

(1) ʾmr	(1) Says
(2) ʾmryw ʾ-	(2) ʾAmaryaw: "ʾ-
(3) mrl ʾdny	(3) MRL, my lord,
(4) hšlm ʾt	(4) is all well with you?
(5) brktk ly-	(5) I bless you to Ya-
(6) hwh tmn	(6) hweh of Teman
(7) wlʾšrth yb-	(7) and to his Asherah. May he bl-
(8) rk wyšmrk	(8) ess you and protect you,
(9) wyhy ʿm ʾdn-	(9) and may he be with my lo-
(10) y ʾrk ḥym	(10) rd as a long life
(11) bšlm ʾmr hʾ	(11) in peace." says he. [25]

Lemaire says there's an epistolary character to the text, not just from brk, but a common NW Semitic salutation: ʾmr X ʾmr Y, "Message of X, say to Y,"^{[ citation needed ]} Wearne says ʾmr, from a word for command or speak, is "that which was promised," a votive, not synonymous with ndr an offering; also skeptical about the "wooden" and "redundant" welfare inquiry. ^[27]

Meshel 3.9

(1) ...lyhwh htmn wlʾšrth
(2) ...kl ʾšr yšʾl mʾš ḥnn h wʾm pth wntn lh yhw[h]
(3) klbbh

(1) ...to Yahweh of the Teman, and to his Asherah,
(2) ...all which he asks from a man he will give generously. And if he entices, Yahwe(h) shall give to him
(3) his wish(es). ^[28]

Pithos C

Inscription 3.16, in red. Figs 5.47a,b.^{[ clarification needed ]}

1 ʾšʾ bn...	Asa, son of...
2 htlh...
3 gd...	Gad
4 d...

Jar C is a not a whole item, like A and B, it's just a chunk with the container's handle and the beginnings of a few lines.^{[ citation needed ]} Meshel sees a personal name Asa on line 1 and perhaps "lamb" on line 2.^{[ citation needed ]}

Meshel plaster fragments

Series 4 of inscriptions were written on white plaster that crumbled due to excavation. ^[29]

Meshel 4.1.1

"Teman" is spelled tymn, as opposed to above tmn. The inclusion of this yodh may indicate diphthongization. ^[30] However, Frevel has argued against indiscriminate interpretations about "Teman" in references to tmn, tymn, htmn. ^{[31] : 58}

1	...ʾrk ymm wyšbʿw [...] ytnw l[y]hwh tymn wlʾšrth	[...may] he lengthen [their] days, and may they be satisfied [...] may they be given to [Ya]hweh of Teman and to his Asherah.
2	...hyṭb yhwh hty[mn...]	...the favored of Yahweh of the Te[man...] [28]

Meshel № 4.2

4.2 involves less reconstructional guesswork than the lacuna-heavy 4.1 series as it's in two pieces rather than many. However, it's one of the more debated pieces, with a few translations available.

(1) wbzrḥ ʾl br...
(2) wymsn hrm...
(3) wydkn gbnm...
(4) wšdš ʾly...
(5) lbrk bʿl bym mlḥ[mh...]
(6) lšm ʾl bym mlḥ[mh...]

(1) And when El shone forth in...
(2) and mountains melted...
(3) and peaks were crushed...
(4) (unknown)
(5) to bless Baal on the day of bat[tle...]
(6) to the name of El on the day of bat[tle...] ^[32]

There has been some scholarly debate on the translation of line 4; ^[33] some have suggested that the inscription actually reads the more familiar qdš ("holy") rather than wšdš, ^[34] while others have argued for qdš referring to a placename like Kadesh-Barnea. ^[35]

Meshel 4.3

1	(...)
2	[...ʾ‍]hly y[šrʾl? ...]
3	lydth · whʾ...
4	[ʿ‍]ny wʿsq bn ʾbyn ʾ[š] dl...
5	lbšm ywn md(?)w [ng]ʾl bd[m...]
6	nd ḥlp wym [y]bš ʿ(?)d...
7	[ḥ]rn bšnt d[br(?)] r[ʿ]b w[ḥ]rb šḥt qyn š[q]r wmrmh...

English translation in dispute. ^[36] Meshel doesn't attempt a full translation of the partially "nonsensical" sequence, but guesses Cain or Kenites for qyn (line 7, bold), which can also mean create or acquire or family, as in KTU 1.3 or Genesis 4.1 or the Khirbet el-Qom ostraca. ^{[37] [38]} He wasn't the first to mention the Kenites "nesting" in Sinai. ^[39]

Subseries 4.4 and 4.5 are quite fragmentary, really a collection of one- or two-letter chunks, on one item the letters b... hnb abutting part of a drawing of a human head. The figure appears beardless, with an olive-shaped eye seen in facial profile.

Meshel 4.6

4.6.1

2	m[...]m. lʕm šmm
3	ʔmr.[...]ʔtl
4	ʔmryšʔl

Square script transcription uses terminal m ("מ[...]ם. לעם שממ" ^[40] ) inconsistently; inscription uses 𐤌 with no sofit alternate.

KA series

As compiled in the Handbuch der althebräischen Epigraphik by Renz, ^[41] many of the Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions featured in the book appear to be fragmented copies of the inscriptions already published by Meshel, as the contents and wording of the inscriptions are otherwise identical.

KA 9:2

1	עירא
2	עדה
3	לשר ער

KA 9:5

1	חליו

KA 9:6

1	[..]ברך:ימם:וישבעו[..]
2	[..]ה יטב:יהוה [..]

KA 9:6 appears to represent a fragmented Meshel 4.1.1.

"Fragmente"

a	יתנו:ל[..]
b	אשרת[..]

This fragment, like KA 9:6, also appears to belong to the Meshel 4.1.1 inscription.

KA 9:7

1	[..]ובזרח:אל:וימסן הרם [..]
2	[..]ברך:בעל:בים:מלח[..]
3	[..]לשם:אל:בים:מלח[..]

KA 9:7 represents a fragmented Meshel 4.2.

KA 9:8

1	אמר:א[..] ה [..]ד:אמר:ליהל[..]וליועשה:ו[..] ברכת:אתכם
2	ליהוה: שמרן: ולאשרתה

KA 9:8 represents a fragmented Meshel 3.1.

KA 9:9

Pithos 2:

1	אמריו א
2	מר ל: אדני
3	השלם: א[ת]
4	ברכתך לי
5	הו[ה...]
6	ולאשרתה: יב
7	רך: וישמרך
8	ויהי: עם: אדג
9	י[...]
10	כ[...]
11	טיכלמנספעצקר
12	עפצקרשת
13	השערם שערם:
14	כלמנספעצקרש

KA 9:9 reproduces Meshel 3.6 in its entirety. The nonsense after the tiny lines 9–10, however, are abecedaries. ^[42] The preceding are on the left side of the large streak down the side of the jar, the abecedaries on the right of the same stark line. This is on the reverse of the jar with the smaller figures with their hands up.

KA 9:10

Pithos 2: weitere zeichen^{[ clarification needed ]}

1	כל אשר ישאל מאש חנן [אתה..] ונתן לה יהו כלבבה
2	ליהוה: התמן: ולאשרתה

KA 9:10 appears to largely reproduce Meshel 3.9, though the order of the lines is reversed, with Meshel 3.9's first line comprising the second line of KA 9:10, and vice versa.

First paper

"The workers became so enthusiastic with their finds and so wrapped up in their whole endeavor that it became almost impossible to tear them away from their work. As the magnitude of their discoveries became apparent, they nearly had to be dragged away from their trenches when it was time for food or rest."

The Name of God in the Wilderness of Zin 1976 ^[8]

Being an arid area, much was preserved. The first treks found cloth, rope, and wood. There were even tools made from the wood of a tree that only grows naturally in Southern Sinai. "Archaeology professor talks at N.D.". The South Bend Tribune. 7 December 1978.

In his 1976 publication, Meshel described Kuntillet Ajrud, noting its distinctiveness compared to other sites. A key indicator of its exceptional nature was the abundance of pottery found at the location—they found more than they could carry almost immediately. Meshel, along with Carol Meyers, attributed this site's significance to its strategic position near major thoroughfares connecting important ancient locales. The site yielded five categories of inscriptions and artifacts: ^[43]

1. Pottery fragments bearing single letters, inscribed prior to firing.
   
2. Pottery with inscriptions incised post-firing — "They are not ostraca."
   
3. Stone vessels featuring incised inscriptions.
   
4. Wall plaster inscriptions, four examples.
   
5. Inscriptions found on complete storage jars, two.

The paper says that the Kuntillet findings débuted (Nov 30 1975) at the home of the President of Israel. ^[8] But the first edition was still decades in the future. This publishing delay led to complaints. ^{[44] [45] [46] [47]}

Interpretation

Main articles: Asherah and Yahweh

The references to Samaria, capital of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), and to Teman suggest that Yahweh had a temple in Samaria, while raising questions about the relationship between Yahweh and Qos, the national god of Edom. ^[48] Such questions had previously been raised due to the Tanakh's apparent reluctance to name the deity. Personal name Qošyaw may even equate the two. ^{[49] [50]} More important than the minor god has been discussion over the consort relationship of the two main figures, which has been voluminous.

Kuntillet Ajrud

Grammar

The final h on the construction yhwh šmrn w'šrth is "his" in "Yahweh and his Asherah." ^{[14] [51]} This is well-attested earlier ^{[52] [ full citation needed ]} but unusual in Biblical use with personal or divine names, raising the possibility that "Asherah" refers to some cultic object rather than a deity. ^[53] Erhard Blum argues that since the Hebrew phrase corresponds to the regular construction of two nomina regentia with one genitive, it should be translated as "and the ashera of Yahweh." ^[54] Zevit suggests *’Ašerātā as a "double feminization." ^{[55] [56]} Reuven Chaim Klein argues that w'šrth means "and His temple/shrine/site," following an obscure usage of the Hebrew root ʿšr and its Aramaic cognate ʿtr. ^[57] Handbuch describes the endings of the words as reflecting inconsistent use of sofit plene among defective spelling, or the reverse. ^[58]

Josef Tropper's onomastic tetragrammaton reconstructions show that YHWH ends with -a or -ú, depending on its position in names. He thinks the final -a in Hebrew might signify an absolutive case ending, marked by 'he' as a mater lectionis, notwithstanding common wisdom that makes a suffix impossible. Adding an 'h' would then turn the preexisting 'h' to a 't' in ’šrth when this applied to ’šrh." ^[59] This closes the line of argumentation of this investigation which started with syllabically attested Jewish personal names of the Late Babylonian period with formation element ia-a-wa⁶: the Israelite divine name “Yahwe” is of a nominal nature (qatl-pattern). Its ending-less basic form is *yahw (> yahû). Alongside this existed a name-form with a preserved case ending -a, namely *yahwa, on which Tetragrammaton-writing is based. Thus Tropper loses the "his," and we have simply "...Yahweh and Asherah" written in the blessings. ^[60] Yoel Elitzur proposed a further simplifying framework where the era's orthography used expanded or contracted spelling not following different grammatical rules under different influence systems, but more or less when the scriptors felt like it. ^[61]

Alphabetic development

Djed ivory

Various forms of the Paleo-Hebrew letter šin (𐤔).

Phoenician, proto-Sinaitic, Kuntillet Ajrud.

The inscriptions are good examples of a script mid-development. Part shows an ayin without a dot hugging a yod, together constituting what could be confused for an ayin alone in an earlier, more ocular form. ^[62] At least some of the shins (𐤔 not ש) and sameks (𐤎, a support pillar shown in djed style) reflect the Paleo-Hebrew conception of the letters.

The inscriptions testify to the high literacy level among their writers, and even the "doodles" speak of calligraphic sophistication. Making comparison to the ancient and canonical Song of Deborah, ^[63] Ahituv 2014 elevates them to the "oldest known Hebrew poem" caught quoting a theophany that predates its scriptor. ^[64]

Teman and Samaria

The localized Yahweh, "of" Samaria and Teman is unseen in the canon but follows familiar patterns, ^[65] Ahituv 2014 finds this expected. ^[66] Nadav Na'aman also follows Meshel's interpretation of Samaria and Teman, ^[67] a few scholars differ.^{[ citation needed ]}

Location

The Kuntillet area was on the Gaza Road, a major informal highway, nearer Kadesh Barnea and Elath - (gulf of) Aqaba to the south. Nearby names on the map include Jebel al Qunna, Esh Sha'Ira, J. El Yahamum, Har Timna, Har Uziyahu, Har Argaman, Har Tsenefim, Har Dela'at, J. El 'Aneiqa. ^[68]

Context

The location was in use only for a short period. ^[69] Evidence of everyday activities included loom weights and faunal remains; perhaps less everyday activities were indicated by linen-wool mixed fabrics "normally prohibited to all but religious officials." ^[16] Plaster surfaces were everywhere. There were ovens and container forms (jars, bowls, lamps, flasks) most undecorated and imported. There were no sickle blades (low cereal activity) but there was a high ratio of imported fish. It appears the location was provisioned entirely from outside. However, the surrounding area's pottery style isn't seen at the site, implying uneasy relations with the closest neighbours. ^[70] In other words, it seemed visitors were from far, not near, and brought wealth.

The main room in building A contained benches, like the space where the Deir Alla inscription was found, among other parallels between the two. ^{[13] [71]} Meshel said in the book's title it was a religious site. Some said the sacred art indicated a temple. ^{[72] : 329} Some said the lack of evidence of cultic activity meant it had been a mere caravanserei, like an Iron Age truck stop. (That is, they found no carbonic traces of burned sacrifice, which is considered the sine qua non of old Northwest Semitic cultic activity. ^[73] )

Lissovsky pointed out that sacred trees (typically) leave nothing to archaeology. ^[74] Meshel imagines the nearby tree grove increased the sanctity of the area, a bamah or "high place" may have been in Building B, and four massebot-like cultic stones that were found in Building A might reveal a cultic nature of the site. ^[75]

Selected species

Diverse remains show that people brought goods from distant locations.

Species	Common name	Origin
Glycymeris inscubria		Mediterranean Sea
Stramonita haemastoma	Florida dog winkle	Mediterranean Sea
Lambis truncata sebae	Seba's spider conch	Red Sea
Monetaria moneta		Red Sea
Lates niloticus	Nile Perch	Nile River Basin [76]

Bench room

Meshel called in narrow and elongated building A the "bench room." It featured stone benches occupying most of its space. Among them some were plain stone, some plastered white, and some had decorated plaster. A straight strip of unfurnished floor afforded central perambulation. ^[77] A pair of facing benches have footrests. ^[78]

The pithoi were found among over 1,000 Judean pillar figurines, in spaces with graphic walls. One of the wall pieces is significantly larger than the other art at the site:

"Pirhiya Beck, in her lengthy analysis of Horvat Teman's finds, described this wall painting on plaster in some detail. The surviving fragments preserve the profile of a human head facing right with an eye and ear(?) all drawn in red outline, the eyeball and hair rendered in black, and a red object with black markings which Beck identified as a lotus blossom, concealing the mouth of the human figure. Additional plaster fragments show the figure dressed in a yellow garment with a red neckline border and a double collar-band drawn in red and encasing rows of black dots. Also discernable is a chair with a garment depicted in elaborate arrays of color (yellow, black, and red), part of the chair’s frame, pomegranates, and an unidentifiable plant. Beck pointed out that the size of the scene is impressive measuring some 32 cm in height, by far the largest mural at the site. She also speculated that these fragments are remnants of a larger scene that may have included several human figures participating in some type of ceremony with various plants in the background.12... Two installations located along the northern wall of building A’s courtyard can be interpreted as additional evidence for the observance of sacred ritual within the court yard..." ^[14]

Pieces of these walls were picked up from the floor to reconstruct the plaster fragments above; only one was still in situ in the strict sense clinging to the wall on which it was written, 4.3 above. ^{[18] [ dubious – discuss ]}

Dating

In his 19th century look at the same site, Palmer said that Syrian-Palestinian potters habitually used the most ancient trade-marks, and mentioned an aleph sherd like Meshel found a few of. Above, Ras Macalister found similar in Gezer.

Lily Singer-Avitz defends a date around the late 8th century; that is rather near the fall of Samaria in 722 BCE. ^[79] William M. Schniedewind argues that the oldest inscriptions may date as early as the late-10th century. ^[80] Meshel et al (1995) had suggested circa 801, finding carbon dating to support some primary evidence that pointed that way. Through the decades, Meshel's dating estimates as site archaeologist have remained consistent. The author proposes it was a wayside shrine lying between more important destinations like Elat, Ezion-Geber, Kadesh Barnea. ^[81] Meshel has always emphasized the nature of the site as religious, without defining or adopting decisive descriptors like sanctuary. The question of if it was an "official religious site" may be subtle, as writers tend to argue it was indeed both and mention separately as an "official site" and a religious site. ^{[72] [ page needed ]}

Phallus misstep

Scholarly confusion

Until 2023, illustrations added a penis and testes to the smaller and breasted biped ^[82] on pithos A. When publicity called this matching pair to note, citizens asked if this were a depiction of a gay god. Reporter Nir Hasson interviewed the author of the editio princeps: ^[14]

"One day archaeologist Uzi Avner called me and told me that he was looking at the exhibits at the Israel Museum and that he thinks the smaller figure has nothing between its legs. We rushed to the museum and they opened the display case for us. We had the Israel Museum restorer with us, who promised me that he had gentle hands, and with a light brush he cleaned it and it turned out that there was nothing [there]. Since then we have been careful to draw the picture with one figure with and one without. This made it easier for those claiming that they were male and female."

— Ze'ev Meshel, archaeologist ^[83]

See also

• Lachish ewer
• Kuntillet Ajrud
• Khirbet el-Qom - similar and roughly contemporary inscriptions
• Deir Alla Inscription
• Maqam (shrine)

Bibliography

Meshel

"Sinai" 2000 precedes but is understood to comprise part I of a greater work, the 2012 editio princeps being its Volume II. "Zin" 1976 is available online and still primary for contextual understanding of the site.

• Meshel, Ze'ev; Meyers, Carol (1976). "The Name of God in the Wilderness of Zin". The Biblical Archaeologist. 39 (1). The American Schools of Oriental Research: 6–10. doi:10.2307/3209411. ISSN   0006-0895. JSTOR   3209411. S2CID   132002593 . Retrieved 2023-12-31.
• Gunneweg, Jan; Perlman, Isadore; Meshel, Zeev (1985). "The Origin of the Pottery of Kuntillet 'Ajrud". Israel Exploration Journal. 35 (4). Israel Exploration Society: 270–283. ISSN   0021-2059. JSTOR   27926000 . Retrieved 2023-12-28.
• Meshel, Zeev; Carmi, Israel; Segal, Dror (1995). "14C Dating of an Israelite Biblical Site at Kuntillet Ajrud (Horvat Teman)". Radiocarbon. 37 (2). Cambridge University Press: 205–212. Bibcode:1995Radcb..37..205M. doi:10.1017/S0033822200030654. ISSN   0033-8222 . Retrieved 2023-12-23.
• Meshel, Zeev (2000). Sinai. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports Limited. ISBN   978-1-84171-077-8.
• Meshel, Z.; Ben-Ami, D.; Aḥituv, S.; Freud, L.; Sandhaus, D.; Kuper-Blau, T. (2012). "Chapter 5: The Inscriptions". Kuntillet ʻAjrud (Ḥorvat Teman): An Iron Age II Religious Site on the Judah-Sinai Border. Hazor. Israel Exploration Society. ISBN   978-965-221-088-3.

Further scholarship

• Ahituv, Shmuel (2014). "Notes on the Kuntillet 'Ajrud Inscriptions". In Eshel, Esther; Levin, Yigal (eds.). "See, I will bring a scroll recounting what befell me" (Ps 40:8): Epigraphy and Daily Life from the Bible to the Talmud. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 29–38. ISBN   978-3-647-55062-6.
• Blum, Erhard (2021). "Kuntillet 'Ajrud 4.1: New Reconstructions and Readings". Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies. 34: 10*–20*. ISSN   0071-108X. JSTOR   27165955.
• Choi, G. (2016). "The Samarian Syncretic Yahwism and the Religious Center of Kuntillet ʿAjrud". In Ganor, Saar; Kreimerman, Igor; Streit, Katharina; Mumcuoglu, Madeleine (eds.). From Shaʿar Hagolan to Shaaraim: Essays in Honor of Prof. Yosef Garfinkel. Israel Exploration Society. ISBN   978-965-221-111-8.
• Krause, Joachim J. (2017). "Kuntillet ʿAjrud Inscription 4.3: A Note on the Alleged Exodus Tradition". Vetus Testamentum. 67 (3). Brill: 485–490. doi:10.1163/15685330-12341286. ISSN   0042-4935. JSTOR   26566694 . Retrieved 2023-11-04.
• Lewis, Theodore J. (2022). "A Holy Warrior at Kuntillet ʿAjrud? Kuntillet ʿAjrud Plaster Inscription 4.2". In Rollston, Christopher A.; Garfein, Susanna; Walls, Neal H. (eds.). Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of P. Kyle McCarter Jr. SBL Press. ISBN   978-1-62837-405-6.
• Mastin, B. A. (2009). "The Inscriptions Written on Plaster at Kuntillet 'Ajrud". Vetus Testamentum. 59 (1). Brill: 99–115. doi:10.1163/156853308X377842. ISSN   0042-4935. JSTOR   20699919 . Retrieved 2024-02-12.
• Na'aman, Nadav; Lissovsky, Nurit (2008). "Kuntillet 'Ajrud, Sacred Trees and the Asherah". Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. 35 (2): 186–208. doi:10.1179/tav.2008.2008.2.186. ISSN   0334-4355. S2CID   161714525 . Retrieved 2023-11-10.
• Na’aman, Nadav (2017). "In Search of the Temples of YHWH of Samaria and YHWH of Teman". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 17 (1): 76–95. doi:10.1163/15692124-12341287. ISSN   1569-2116. S2CID   164931990.
• Puech, Émile (2014). "Les inscriptions hébraïques de Kuntillet 'Ajrud (Sinaï)". Revue Biblique. 121 (2): 161–194. doi:10.2143/RBI.121.2.3157150. ISSN   2466-8583. JSTOR   44092490.
• Renz, Johannes; Röllig, Wolfgang (2016). Handbuch der althebräischen Epigraphik (in German). Darmstadt: WBG (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft). ISBN   978-3-534-26789-7.
• Stuckey, Johanna H. (2002). "The Great Goddesses of the Levant". Journal for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. 29: 28–57. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
• Taylor, Joan E. (1995). "The Asherah, the Menorah and the Sacred Tree". Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. 20 (66). SAGE Publications: 29–54. doi:10.1177/030908929502006602. ISSN   0309-0892. S2CID   170422840.
• Thomas, Ryan (2016-12-15). "The Identity of the Standing Figures on Pithos A from Kuntillet ʿAjrud: A Reassessment". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 16 (2): 121–191. doi:10.1163/15692124-12341282. ISSN   1569-2116.
• Wearne, Gareth James (2015). The plaster texts from Kuntillet ʻAjrud and Deir ʻAlla : an inductive approach to the emergence of northwest Semitic literary texts in the first millennium B.C.E. Macquarie University. doi:10.25949/19435436.V1.
• Wearne, Gareth J. (2023). "Votive Offerings, Graffiti, or Scribal Exercises?: A Note on the grmlqr[t] Inscription from Sarepta and the "Blessings" from Kuntillet ʿAjrud". Vetus Testamentum. 73 (1): 139–154. doi: 10.1163/15685330-bja10080 . ISSN   0042-4935.
• Zevit, Ziony (1984). "The Khirbet el-Qôm Inscription Mentioning a Goddess". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (255). American Schools of Oriental Research: 39–47. doi:10.2307/1357074. ISSN   0003-097X. JSTOR   1357074. S2CID   163562992 . Retrieved 2023-11-08.

References

1. Choi 2016, p. 354.
2. Photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr
3. Stuckey 2002, p. 45.
4. Meshel & Meyers 1976, pp. 6–10.
5. Ahituv 2014, p. 30.
6. Meshel et al. 2012, pp. 87, 95.
7. The Times-News Twin Falls ID 09 Jul 1976, Fri ·Page 9
8. Meshel & Meyers 1976, p. 6.
9. Meshel et al. 2012.
10. Puech 2014, "Trois campagnes de fouilles dirigées par Z. Meshel en 1975 et 1976 mirent au jour des restes de deux bâtiments, le bâtiment A le mieux conservé d'où provient l'essentiel de la documentation (voir figure 1 avec la situation des diverses inscriptions), et le bâtiment B très érodé à l'est. Ont été retrouvés des restes d'une occupation du début du Fer II B qui se sont révélés importants en particulier par l'abondance d'inscriptions gravées ou peintes sur des vases ou sur du plâtre, accompagnées de dessins. Le site à la frontière du royaume de Juda et du désert du Sinai se trouve sur une route de passage dès les temps anciens. La publication récente du rapport final présente les différents apports de ces découvertes, et parmi ces dernières, les inscriptions sont d'un intérêt majeur à plus d'un titre, et méritent quelques lignes complémentaires."
11. Stuckey 2002, p. 44.
12. "How a Warrior-Storm God became the God of the Israelites and World Monotheism". YouTube. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
13. Schmidt, Brian B., "The Iron Age Pithoi Drawings from Ḥorvat Teman or Kuntillet ʿAjrud: Some New Proposals", JANER 2 (2002), p. 103.
14. Krause 2017, pp. 485–490.
15. Meshel et al. 2012, p. 169.
16. Textiles in Ancient Mediterranean Iconography. Oxbow Books. 2022-02-03. doi:10.2307/j.ctv2npq9bb.8. ISBN   978-1-78925-724-3.
17. Choi 2016, pp. 354–363.
18. Renz & Röllig 2016, p. 57.
19. Puech 2014, p. 161.
20. Taylor 1995, pp. 29–54.
21. inscription 2.9 page 82 Meshel 2012
22. E5 amš
23. Ras Macalister, Gezer, pictured
24. Meshel et al. 2012, pp. 172.
25. Puech 2014, pp. 161–94.
26. Meshel et al. 2012, pp. 173–175.
27. Wearne 2023, pp. 3, 14.
28. Allen, Spencer L. The Splintered Divine: A Study of Istar, Baal, and Yahweh Divine Names and Divine Multiplicity in the Ancient Near East, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614512363; p. 264
29. Meshel et al. 2012, p. 105.
30. Meshel et al. 2012, p. 107.
31. Frevel, Christian (2021-03-30). "When and from Where did YHWH Emerge? Some Reflections on Early Yahwism in Israel and Judah". Entangled Religions. 12 (2). doi:10.46586/er.12.2021.8776. hdl: 2263/84039 . ISSN   2363-6696.
32. Largely following Mastin (2009).
33. Lewis 2022, p. 372.
34. Lewis 2022, pp. 372–374.
35. Lewis 2022, p. 375.
36. Krause 2017, p. 487.
37. Meshel et al. 2012, p. 117.
38. "Strong's Hebrew: 7069. קָנָה (qanah) -- to get, acquire". Bible Hub. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
39. Sayce, A. H. (1920). "The Origin of the Semitic Alphabet". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (3). [Cambridge University Press, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland]: 297–303. ISSN   0035-869X. JSTOR   25209619 . Retrieved 2024-02-15.
40. Meshel et al. 2012, p. 120.
41. Renz & Röllig 2016, p. 3.
42. Renz & Röllig 2016, p. 62.
43. Meshel & Meyers 1976, p. 9.
44. Puech 2014.
45. Mastin 2009, p. 100.
46. Renz & Röllig 2016, p. 64.
47. "Solange der Text nicht vollständig publiziert & zumindest die Länge der Lacune geklärt ist, muss jede Deutung problematisch bleiben."
48. Keel, Othmar; Uehlinger, Christoph (1998). Gods, Goddesses, And Images of God. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 228. ISBN   9780567085917 . Retrieved 10 March 2014.
49. qwšyhw. "Note, however, that in Canaanite and Aramaic texts, qws is always spelled with a samek, never a šin." Danielson cites Bartlett 1989 pg 200.
50. Danielson, Andrew J. (2021-04-16). "On the History and Evolution of Qws: The Portrait of a First Millennium BCE Deity Explored through Community Identity". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 20 (2): 169. doi:10.1163/15692124-12341314. ISSN   1569-2116. S2CID   234871077.
51. The mispointing ... lack of knowledge of how -h in early (tenth century b.c.e.) orthography can represent a 3 masc sing suffix, known epigraphically. Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS 21; Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1975)
52. -h in 10c BCE orthog. can represend a third masculine singular suffix, well attested from epigraphic... Jnl Bibl Lit 2013 pg 794 referencing Frank Moore Cross, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry SBLDS 21 Missoula MT Scholars Press 1975)
53. Anthonioz, Stéphanie (2014). "Astarte in the Bible and her Relation to Asherah". In Sugimoto, David T. (ed.). Ishtar / Astarte / Aphrodite : Transformation of a Goddess. Orbis biblicus et orientalis. Vol. 263. Fribourg: Academic Press. p. 133. ISBN   978-3-525-54388-7.
54. Blum 2021, p. 15*.
55. "It is most reasonably taken as a mater lectionis for a final vowel ā marking."
56. Zevit 1984, pp. 39–47.
57. Klein, Reuven Chaim (July 7, 2024). "Locating the Place". Times of Israel Blogs.
58. Renz & Röllig 2016, p. 52.
59. McClellan, Daniel O. (2022). YHWH's Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach. SBL Press. p. 72. ISBN   978-1-62837-438-4.
60. Oorschot, Jürgen van; Witte, Markus (2017). The Origins of Yahwism. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 20. ISBN   9783110448221.
61. Elitzur, Joel (2023-12-12). "Plene Spelling and Defective Spelling in the Hebrew Bible: The Question of Dating". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 143 (4). doi:10.7817/jaos.143.4.2023.ar027. ISSN   2169-2289.
62. Ahituv 2014, p. 40.
63. Judges 5
64. Ahituv 2014, p. 36.
65. Allen, Spencer L. (2015). "The Splintered Divine: A Study of Istar, Baal, and Yahweh Divine Names and Divine Multiplicity in the Ancient Near East". The Splintered Divine. De Gruyter. p. 206. doi:10.1515/9781614512363. ISBN   978-1-61451-236-3.
66. Ahituv 2014, p. 32.
67. Na’aman 2017, p. 90.
68. Meshel et al. 2012, p. 4.
69. Meshel & Meyers 1976, p. 10, "Clearly, it is a one-period, one-phase site."
70. Wearne 2015, p. 184.
71. Steiner, Margreet (2019-02-27). "Iron Age Cultic Sites in Transjordan". Religions. 10 (3). MDPI AG: 145. doi: 10.3390/rel10030145 . ISSN   2077-1444.
72. Finkelstein, Israel; Römer, Thomas (2014-01-01). "Comments on the Historical Background of the Jacob Narrative in Genesis" (PDF). Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. 126 (3). doi:10.1515/zaw-2014-0020. ISSN   1613-0103. S2CID   170305826.
73. Hallo, William W.; Younger, K. Lawson; Orton, David E. (1997). The Context of Scripture. Leiden New York Köln: Brill. ISBN   90-04-10618-9.
74. Na'aman & Lissovsky 2008, p. 186.
75. Splintered divine, p. 266 on Meshel, "The Nature of the Site".
76. Wearne 2015, p. 195.
77. Meshel, Carmi & Segal 1995, p. 205.
78. pg 27
79. Singer-Avitz, Lily (2009). "The Date of Kuntillet 'Ajrud: A Rejoinder". Tel Aviv. 36 (1): 110–119. doi:10.1179/204047809x439488. ISSN   0334-4355. S2CID   162208707.
80. Schniedewind, William M. (2017). "An Early Iron Age Phase to Kuntillet 'Ajrud?". In Greenspahn, Frederick E.; Rendsburg, Gary A. (eds.). Le-maʿan Ziony: Essays in Honor of Ziony Zevit. Wipf and Stock. p. 136. ISBN   978-1-4982-0691-4.
81. Meshel, Carmi & Segal 1995.
82. Thomas 2016, p. 125.
83. "Did God have a wife? A surprising development". Haaretz. 4 April 2018 – via Facebook. Nir Hasson, who wrote the piece titled "A Strange Drawing Found in Sinai Could Undermine Our Entire Idea of Judaism," was contacted by a reader who noticed a discrepancy. Hasson explains.