Upon the conquest of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar deported many Judeans to Babylonia. What was their life like there? Were they assimilated, or did they stand out? What language(s) did they speak and what religious practices did they maintain? What was their social and economic standing? Babylonian records allow us glimpses into the lives of some of the deportees.This essay is a really useful overview of what we know about Judeans in Babylonia during the Exile and beyond, based on cuneiform sources. And it highlights one tablet that has a Hebrew name written on in paleo-Hebrew script. This is quite important.
For more on sepīru scribes and tupsharru scribes, see here and here. And for many past posts on the Babylonian-Judean cuneiform archive, start here and follow the links.
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