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Re: Yachad ostracon
> >Esti Eshel presented her find in Manchester on Tuesday. She reads yh_d,
> >though it could be yod aleph dalet (anyone know a personal name that begins
> >like that?)>
> >Philip R Davies
> >Department of Biblical Studies
> >University of Sheffield
>
> How about yod aleph resh ('R' can be almost indistinguishable from 'D').
> This can be read as Yair. Elazar ben Yair, of course, was the zealot
> commander of Massada during the siege.
> Eric Forster
Someone's earlier advice to wait until the ostracon
is published--Esti Eshel has done everything
possible to publish it quickly and the article
is in press--is probably better but because
the discussion is so lively:
The basis for "yachad" is entirely in the reading of
the word "yachad" (that is, if the word does not read
"yachad" there is nothing else in the ostracon which
would be a DSS link). Eshel reported there is
no known attestation of
the word "yachad" at this time other than DSS. The
reading is not an immediately obvious one such that
someone in the audience, seeing it displayed by slide
projector, could confirm the reading upon sight.
Looking at the photographs afterward, there is a sequence
of lamed (certain), yod (appears certain), an "N" shaped
letter that looks like an aleph but which Cross and Eshel
are certain is a chet (more on this in a moment), and
finally a last letter before the edge which Cross and Eshel
read as dalet but which may also merit scrutiny. The word
is at an edge and the context of the sentence appears not
clear. The deed of gift already has both a giver and a
receiver by personal names so the additional "LYXD"
or "L-anyone" seems not necessitated otherwise by the text.
The reading of chet instead of aleph is based on matching
the letter with N-shaped chets known from elsewhere (cp
at line 6 of Fig. 19 in Cross's _Ancient Library of Qumran_
script charts) and
the slant, which is supposed to be different from aleph and
give a reading of chet. The difficulty of finding
any known name or word with a reading of aleph in this
position is supposed to be an additional corroboration
of the correctness of the reading of chet.
Eric Forster's suggestion on the name "Jair" does not
seem possible based on the last letter which does not
seem readable as resh as I remember. But the last letter
seems to be missing a crosstroke expected for dalet. (One
must sort of restore the crosstroke to get the dalet.) Is
the last letter actually a waw plus the remains of another
unidentified letter? (Are there names that
begin with yod chet waw?)
The next issue of IEJ should have the article with the
photograph and everyone will have a better look. Many
thanks to Esti Eshel for obtaining good photographs and
prompt publication.
Just One Humble Report from the Front
Greg Doudna gd@teol.ku.dk
begin with yod chet waw?)
The next issue of IEJ should have the article with the
photograph and everyone will have a better look. Many
thanks to Esti Eshel for obtaining good photographs and
prompt publication.
Just One Humble Report from the Front
Greg Doudna gd@teol.ku.dk