Tuesday, July 13, 2021

More on the "Jerubbaal" jug

INSCRIPTION UPDATE: Five-letter inscription inked 3,100 years ago may be name of biblical judge. Excavations in Judean foothills uncover small jug from 1,100 BCE that could be inscribed with ‘Jerubbaal’; first evidence of a name from Book of Judges on a contemporary artifact (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

Ms. Borschel-Dan has published a characteristically thorough article. It covers the original report. It includes interviews with the excavator, the epigrapher, and other epigraphers. It discusses the epigraphic context of the inscription, the site of the discovery, the dating of the object, and the readings of the inscription.

The first letter is damaged. Not everyone is convinced that the name has to be Jerubbaal.

Background here (with my commentary) and here.

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