Tau News
Tel Aviv University News, Spring 1997

Historic Chinese Treasure Trove
To Hell and Back at TAU
Creating Global Managers
A New Force in Nature
A Window into Jewish Medieval Life
Edomites Advance into Judah
Piecing Together the Past
Testament to Links

PiecingTogether the Past

TAU archeologists discover thirty-nine Hebrew inscriptions on potsherds (ostraca) in the Negev.
The Edomites are coming! This Hebrew ostracon, addressed to the commander of the Arad fortress, warns of an impending Edomite invasion. Part of a cache of late seventh or early sixth century BCE Hebrew documents found in Arad, this dispatch testifies to the urgent threat Edom posed to Judah's southern flank.
Thirty-eight potsherds (ostraca) with Hebrew inscriptions and one with an Edomite inscription were unearthed at the 7th century BCE fortress site of Uza, in the southern Kingdom of Judah, by Prof. Beit-Arieh in collaboration with Prof. B. Cresson of Baylor University, Texas, and his team. The Edomite ostracon together with other evidence indicates that the fortress may have fallen into Edomite hands around 600 BCE, says Prof. Beit-Arieh.

The inscriptions on the 39 ostraca found at the site almost all relate to the administration of the fortress. Two were discovered on a whole jar, currently on show at the Israel Museum. One ostracon has a literary inscription which is hard to decipher: It ends with a threat that if the addressee fails to fulfill the demands of the writer or God, his grave will be destroyed.

Sixty-five Hebrew personal names are inscribed on the ostraca, most of which are known from the Bible, while others crop up for the first time. The commonly accepted ending of "yahu" indicates a person whose origin was from Judah, while names from Israel usually ended in "yo." An ostracon serving as a posting order mentions Ahiqam Ben Menahem - possibly the commander of the fortress, and Hebrew names of soldiers posted there such as Amadyahu and Hoshayahu.

The identity of the site has still not been confirmed. According to Prof. Beit-Arieh, the fortress overlooked a road mentioned in Kings II as "the way of Edom," which connected the Arava with Judah, today in southern Jordan.

No signs of agriculture were discovered at the site, and its residents apparently lived on supplies brought from Jerusalem. Pottery findings are characteristic of the style of others found at Judean sites, including bowls decorated with a polished red slip, cooking pots, jars and oil lamps.

Towards the end of the 7th century, the Bible relates that Nebuchadnezzar ordered marauding bands of Chaldees, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Judah (Kings II, 24:2). At that time all the fortresses along the border, including Uza, were destroyed. The Edomite ostracon discovered at Uza reinforces the theory that the fortress did indeed fall to the Edomites.