Description
Book SynopsisSince the early 1990s, about two thousand Idumean Aramaic ostraca have found their way onto the antiquities market and are now scattered across a number of museums, libraries, and private collections. This fifth and final volume of the Textbook of Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea completes the work of bringing these ostraca together in a single publication.
Volumes 1–4 published some 1,600 ostraca that gave us insight into agriculture, economics, politics, onomastics, and scribal practices from fourth/third-century BCE Idumea and Judah. The ostraca in volume 5 come from the same milieu, but the information they provide is entirely new and different. This volume presents 485 ostraca, including 99 land descriptions, 168 uncertain texts, and 218 assorted remains, scribal exercises, and forgeries, along with useful indexes and tables and a comparative list of entries. The land descriptions—which record local landmarks, ownership boundaries, and land registration—provide rich complementary material to the rest of the Idumean ostraca. The “uncertain texts” are fragmentary, in poor condition, or contain other abnormalities. As the TAO corpus becomes better understood and as imaging techniques improve, these texts will help to fill gaps in knowledge. The final section includes the remains of scribal practices and forgeries, important because they help to show the authenticity of the other two thousand pieces.
A unique collection of documentary sources for fourth/third-century BCE Idumea—and, by extension, Judah—this multivolume work will be a powerful resource for those interested in onomastics and social and economic history.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Abbreviations and Select Bibliography
Introduction
Explanation of Typographic Conventions
Grain Equivalencies
Terminology of Ceramic Descriptions
Numeration Legend
Missing Photos and Drawings
Texts (485 texts)
The Land Descriptions of the Idumean Ostraca in Their Ancient Near Eastern Context (by Tania Notarius)
H1.1-10.8 Land Description Dossier (99 Texts)
H1.1-3 Land Descriptions with Sacred Places
H2.1-20 Land Descriptions with the Caption “Plot/Portion,” Usually at the Beginning
H3.1-17 Land Descriptions with Groves Figuring Prominently
H4.1-14 Land Descriptions with Olive Trees/Groves Figuring Prominently
H5.1-15 Other Land Descriptions Measured in Seed Capacity
H6.1-6 Land Descriptions Without Measurements
H7.1-5 Fragmentary Land Descriptions with lot
H8.1-5 Fragmentary Land Descriptions with vale
H9.1-6 Fragmentary Land Descriptions with terrace
H10.1-8 Other Fragmentary Land Descriptions
J1.1-12.6 Uncertain Texts Dossier (168 Texts)
J1.1-4 Remains of Names, Products, and Dates
J2.1-26 Remains of Names and Products
J3.1-4 Remains of Names and Dates
J4.1-31 Remains of Names
J5.1-4 Remains of Products and Dates
J6.1-13 Remains of Dates
J7.1-15 Remains of Products
J8.1-11 Remains of Measures
J9.1-9 Remains of Numbers
J10.1-8 Remains of Topographical Words
J11.1-37 Miscellaneous Remains
J12.1-6 Miscellaneous Scripts
K1.1-12.19 Assorted Remains, Scribal Exercises, and Forgeries Dossier (218 Texts)
K1.1-42 Unidentified Remains of One or More Lines
K2.1-24 Unidentified Remains of Script
K3.1-25 Unidentified Remains of Ink
K4.1-29 Remains of Letters and Signs
K5.1-27 Remains of Marks
K6.1-21 Scribal Exercises
K7.1-13 Designs and Drawings
K8.1-3 Seal Impressions
K9.1-5 Undefinable
K10.1-10 Forgeries
K11.1 Other
K12.1-19 Jar Handles and Blank Sherds
Tables
Table 1. Products in TAO (TAO A-J)
Table 2. Names in TAO (TAO A-J)
Table 3. The Dossier of Shekels
Comparative List of Entries
Comparative List of Entries Listed by TAO Number
Comparative List of Entries Listed by ISAP Number
Indexes
Index of Dates (TAO A–G, J)
Index of Numbers (TAO A–G, J)
Index of Sealing Signs (TAO A–G, J)
Index of Words (TAO A–G, J)
Index of Agricultural Terms in the Land Descriptions Dossier (TAO H)
