The sherd dates to the end of the Iron Age—discovered in a layer destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.e. (Level ii)—and though it doesn’t tell us much, as far as content goes, it does bear the rare name of a particular biblical figure also on the scene at the same time: Shaphan.The article links to the underlying open-access article in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology:
New Hebrew Ostracon from LachishFor some comments on the Shaphan mentioned in the Bible, the discoverer (composer??) of the book of the law during Josiah's reign, see here. For a discussion of the excavated seal impression belonging to his son, Gemaryahu, see the article by Lawrence J. Mykytiuk linked to here.Daniel Vainstub, Hoo-Goo Kang, Barak Sober, Iris Arad, and Yosef Garfinkel
Abstract
In an archaeological excavation conducted in 2016 on the northern slope of Tel Lachish, the triangular lower-right corner of a Hebrew ostracon was found. It was assigned to Level II, which was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Despite the very faded condition of the inscription, the following phrase can be cautiously reconstructed for its bottom line: “On the 1[6?] (day of the month) Shapan [son (of) ].” This phrase probably summarizes or closes an administrative document.
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