Friday, September 18, 2020

Ancient inkwell discovered at Gush Etzion

ARTIFACT: 2nd Temple era inkwell found in Gush Etzion. Archaeological find strengthens hypothesis of high literacy rates among population of 2nd Temple era Judea (Arutz Sheva).

Ancient inkwells show up from time to time on the antiquities market, for example, currently, here. And a number of them were excavated at Qumran. There is also one in the Schøyen Collection (cf here) that is reportedly from Qumran. It is good to have another one from a controlled excavation. I hope they find some ink traces in it for analysis.

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