Literacy in Judah and Israel

Algorithmic and Forensic Examination of the Arad and Samaria Ostraca

Bibliographic Data

ID5105175
AuthorsShira Faigenbaum-Golovin (0000-0003-0320-9726), A Shaus (0000-0003-3727-2774), B Sober (0000-0001-5090-5551), Yana Gerber, Eli Turkel (0000-0003-4273-0303), Eli Piasetzky (0000-0001-9058-2590), Israel Finkelstein (0000-0002-5643-2158)
Year2021
Volume84
Issue2
Pages148-158
Publication date2021-06-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNear Eastern Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1094-2076 • E-ISSN: 1557-5594
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/714070
OpenAlexW3164963133
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited21

This article deals with the question of literacy in Israel and Judah. We deploy algorithmic and forensic methods to reveal the number of authors in two corpora of ostraca: Arad in Judah (ca. 600 BCE) and Samaria in Israel (eighth century BCE). In Judah, literacy disseminated down the military system to the quarter-master of the remote fort of Arad and possibly to his assistant. At Samaria our algorithmic work revealed two scribes over a minimum period of seven years, which seems to represent palace administration apparatus

Ancient history · Archaeology · Literacy · Middle East · Political science · Sixth century · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Classics · Handwritten Text Recognition Techniques · History · Law

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