Ketef Hinnom scrolls
KH1 and KH2 scrolls | |
---|---|
exile) [1] | |
Discovered | 1979 West Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel |
Present location | Israel Museum |
The Ketef Hinnom scrolls, also described as Ketef Hinnom amulets, are the oldest surviving texts currently known from the
The two silver scrolls were uncovered in 1979 at
Discovery
The scrolls were found in 1979 in Chamber 25 of Cave 24 at Ketef Hinnom, during excavations conducted by a team under the supervision of Gabriel Barkay, who was then professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University.[6] The site appeared to be archaeologically sterile (the tomb had last been used for storing rifles during the Ottoman period), but a chance discovery by a 13-year-old volunteer revealed that a partial collapse of the ceiling long ago had preserved the contents of Chamber 25.[7]
A reconstruction indicates that there were five chambers and a central 'hall' in cave 24. The cave could hold about 22+ bodies on benches, each with a headrest of stone. Under three of the chambers in the cave there were repositories. The repositories were used for
The repository under chamber 25 contained approximately 60 cm of material with over a thousand objects: many small pottery vessels, artifacts of iron and bronze (including arrowheads), needles and pins, bone and ivory objects, glass bottles, and jewelry including earrings of gold and silver. In addition, the excavators found two tiny silver scrolls, referred to below as KH1 and KH2. The tomb had evidently been in use for several generations from about 650 BCE, that is towards the end of the
KH1 was found in Square D, the middle of the repository, 7 cm above the floor, while KH2 was found while sifting dirt from the lower half of the deposits in Square A, the innermost portion of the repository. Both amulets were separated from
Barkay initially dated the inscriptions to the late-7th/early-6th centuries BCE, but later revised this date downward to the early 6th century on paleographic grounds (the forms of the delicately incised
A major re-examination of the scrolls was therefore undertaken by the
Significance
The 2004 team described the scrolls as "one of most significant discoveries ever made" for biblical studies.[12] Apart from their significance for modern knowledge of the development of the Hebrew alphabet, the scrolls "preserve the earliest known citations of texts also found in the Hebrew Bible and ... the earliest examples of confessional statements concerning Yahweh." The reference to Yahweh as "Rebuker of Evil," found in later incantations and amulets associated with Israel, is evidence that these artifacts were also amulets.[11]
Dr. Wayne Pitard has stated that although evidence for the antiquity of the Priestly Blessing is now compelling, this does not necessarily mean that the Book of Numbers already existed at that time.[11] Dr. James R. Davila has similarly pointed out that while the scrolls show that "some of the material found in the Five Books of Moses existed in the First Temple period", the suggestion that they are "proof that the Five Books of Moses were in existence during the First Temple period" (as described in an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz) is "an overinterpretation of the evidence."[13]
According to the team which led the most conclusive reexamination of the scrolls:
Based on our new analysis and reading of these texts, we can reaffirm with confidence that the late preexilic period is the proper chronological context for the artifacts. We can further reassert the conclusion reached by most scholars: that the inscriptions found on these plaques preserve the earliest known citations of texts also found in the Hebrew Bible and that they provide us with the earliest examples of confessional statements concerning Yahweh.[14]
Description
This section needs editing to comply with Wikipedia's MOS:WORDSASWORDS.(August 2022) ) |
The scrolls are known as KH1 and KH2. They are written in
KH1
The scroll KH1 measures 27 by 97 millimetres (1.06 in × 3.82 in).
- [Top line(s) broken]
- ...] YHWH ...
- [...]
- the grea[t ... who keeps]
- the covenant and
- [G]raciousness towards those who love [him] and (alt: [hi]m;)
- those who keep [his commandments ...
- ...].
- the Eternal? [...].
- [the?] blessing more than any
- [sna]re and more than Evil.
- For redemption is in him.
- For YHWH
- is our restorer [and]
- rock. May YHWH bles[s]
- you and
- [may he] keep you.
- [May] YHWH make
- [his face] shine ...
- [Bottom line(s) broken.]
Biblical parallels
Compare lines 3–6 to:
- Exodus 20:6 – showing mercy to thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments
- Deuteronomy 5:10 – showing mercy to thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments
- Deuteronomy 7:9 – keeping covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations
- Daniel 9:4 – keeping covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments
- 1:5– keeping covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His commandments
The omission of "thousands" may have originally appeared on line 7 as in Deuteronomy 7:9.
KH2
The scroll KH2 measures 11 by 39 millimetres (0.43 in × 1.54 in).
- [Top line(s) broken: For PN xxxx]
- -h/hu. May be blessed h/sh-
- -[e] by YHW[H,]
- the warrior/helper and
- the rebuker of
- [E]vil: May bless you,
- YHWH,
- keep you.
- Make shine, YH-
- -[W]H, His face
- [upon] you and g-
- -rant you p-
- -[ea]ce.
- [Bottom line(s) broken.]
Biblical parallels
Compare lines 5–12 to Numbers 6:24–26:
6:24 Yahweh bless you and keep you;
6:25 Yahweh make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
6:26 Yahweh lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
(Note that the two bold italicized phrases above are not present on this scroll; also note that all of Numbers 6:25–26 may have appeared on KH1 after line 18 where the scroll has disintegrated).
Apotropaic nature of the amulets
Jeremy Smoak has argued that the combination of the terms "guard" and "protect" is typical of
The utterance of YHWH are pure utterances, silver refined in a furnace in the earth, purified seven times. You O YHWH, will guard them; you will protect him from this generation forever. On every side the wicked prowl, a vileness is exalted among humankind.
See also
- Biblical archaeology
- Archaeology in Israel
- List of artifacts significant to the Bible
- Epigraphy
- Paleography
- Priestly Blessing
- Ancient literature
References
- ^ Barkay, G., A.G. Vaughn, M.J. Lundberg and B. Zuckerman, "The Amulets from Ketef Hinnom: A New Edition and Evaluation," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 334 (2004): 41-71.
- ^ "Solving a Riddle Written in Silver". The New York Times. 28 September 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
- ^ "The Challenges of Ketef Hinnom: Using Advanced Technologies to Recover the Earliest Biblical Texts and their Context", Gabriel Barkay et al., Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 66, No. 4 (December 2003), pp. 162–171 (at JSTOR) Archived 16 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Biblical Artifact Proven to Be Real". Webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ^ Barkay et al. 2003.
- ^ Barkay, Gabriel, et al., "The Challenges of Ketef Hinnom: Using Advanced Technologies to Recover the Earliest Biblical Texts and their Context," Near Eastern Archaeology, 66/4 (2003): 162–171. The article includes an isometric drawing of the chamber where the find was made.
- ^ "Pilgrimage Panorama" – Barkay's account of the finding of the scrolls.
- ^ See article Secondary burial.
- ^ Renz, Johannes and Wolfgang Röllig, Handbuch der althebräischen Epigraphik (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1995).
- ^ Barkay, G., A.G. Vaughn, M.J. Lundberg and B. Zuckerman, "The Amulets from Ketef Hinnom: A New Edition and Evaluation," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 334 (2004): 41–71. (An innovation in the report was the simultaneous publication of an accompanying "digital article," a CD version of the article and the images).
- ^ a b c "Solving a Riddle Written in Silver", New York Times, 2004.
- ^ Barkay, Gabriel, et al., "The Challenges of Ketef Hinnom: Using Advanced Technologies to Recover the Earliest Biblical Texts and their Context", Near Eastern Archaeology, 66/4 (Dec. 2003): 162-171.
- ^ Davila, James, "More on the Ketef Hinnom Amulets in Ha'aretz", Paleojudaica, Sept. 2004.
- ^ Gabriel Barkay, Marilyn J. Lundberg, Andrew G. Vaughn and Bruce Zuckerman, "The Amulets from Ketef Hinnom: A New Edition and Evaluation,"Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 334 (2004): 41–71. (An innovation in the report was the simultaneous publication of an accompanying "digital article," a CD version of the article and the images).
- ^ Smoak, Jeremy, "Amuletic Inscriptions and the Background of YHWH as Guardian and Protector in Psalm 12," Vetus Testamentum 60 (2010): 427–428.
Further reading
- Barkay, Gabriel (1983). "News From the Field: The Divine Name Found in Jerusalem". Biblical Archaeology Review. 9:2 (March/April): 14–9.
- Barkay, Gabriel; Lundberg, Marilyn J.; Vaughn, Andrew G.; Zuckerman, Bruce; Zuckerman, Kenneth (2003). "The Challenges of Ketef Hinnom: Using Advanced Technologies to Reclaim the Earliest Biblical Texts and Their Contexts". Near Eastern Archaeology. 66:4 (December): 162–71. S2CID 164042223.
- Barkay, Gabriel; Lundberg, Marilyn J.; Vaughn, Andrew G.; Zuckerman, Bruce (2004). "The Amulets from Ketef Hinnom: A New Edition and Evaluation". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 334 (May): 41–70. S2CID 163426897.
- Barkay, Gabriel (2009). "The Riches of Ketef Hinnom: Jerusalem tomb yields Biblical text four centuries older than Dead Sea Scrolls". Biblical Archaeology Review. 35:4 (Jul/Aug Sep/Oct). Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
- Berlejung, Angelika (January 2008). "Ein Programm fürs Leben. Theologisches Wort und anthropologischer Ort der Silberamulette von Ketef Hinnom". Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (in German). 120 (2): 204–230. S2CID 170703065.
- Gmirkin, Russell E (May 15, 2006). Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the Date of the Pentateuch. Copenhagen International series, 15. New York: T & T International. ISBN 978-0-567-13439-4.
- Smoak, Jeremy (2010). "Amuletic Inscriptions and the Background of YHWH as Guardian and Protector in Psalm 12". .
- Smoak, Jeremy (2011). "'Prayers and Petition' in the Psalms and West Semitic Inscribed Amulets: Efficacious Words in metal and Prayers for Protection in Biblical Literature". S2CID 170292563.
- Smoak, Jeremy D. (2015). The Priestly Blessing in Inscription & Scripture: The Early History of Numbers 6:24-26. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-939997-0.
- Waaler, Erik (2002). "A revised date for Pentateuchal texts? Evidence from Ketef Hinnom" (PDF). doi:10.53751/001c.30240. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-16.
- Waaler, Erik (2011). "A Reconstruction of Ketef Hinnom I". Maarav. 16 (2): 225–263.
- Yardeni, Ada (1991). "Remarks on the Priestly Blessing on Two Ancient Amulets from Jerusalem". .