One of the towns inhabited by these exiled Jewish businessmen was call Al-Yahudu, “Judah-town,” the city where many of the tablets originated. Though the location of this town is uncertain, it was probably within proximity to Babylon, the focal center of the kingdom. The name of the town indicates the primary ethnic makeup of the inhabitants, although they interacted with the Babylonian natives in many of their ventures.The discovery is well known to PaleoJudaica readers, but Dr. Chavales proceeds to relate some interesting details about some of the Jewish clients in the tablets.
The texts were written by professional Babylonian scribes on behalf of their Jewish lower middle-class clients, who engaged in the cultivation of grains and date palms, bought and sold cattle, rented houses, loaned silver, sold slaves, and engaged in marriage alliances. Though some even prospered economically, most were settled in state-owned land in return for military service for Babylon, By a cursory study of the personal names in the tablets, it appears that at least three generations of Jews lived in Al-Yahudu and surrounding towns.
Though the tablets tell us virtually nothing about the religious nature of the exiles, it is interesting to note that none of the dated texts were issued during Jewish sacred days.
A few examples from these texts will perhaps help in our understanding. ...
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