Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it>]

Peter Kirk wrote:
>Why are we necessarily talking about nomadic scribes using clay 
>tablets, or even wax tablets? This discussion started with Israelites 
>in Egypt and carrying records with them to Canaan. In Egypt writing 
>was normally on papyrus, from c.3000 BC (??). 

Dear Peter,

We were dealing, I thought, with the maintenance of written traditions such
as would come with Abraham from Ur and Harran, ie a cuneiform tradition that
was also maintained by the numerous Canaanite cities that corresponded with
Egypt during the middle to late bronze ages.

>Papyrus scrolls are not 
>so heavy that nomads could not carry them - perhaps together with 
>their portable sanctuary. 

Putting aside the difficulties of a nomadic tribe carrying a structure large
enough to be called a "portable sanctuary", the idea of these nomads using
papyrus brings with it numerous problems, while reducing the weight of
traditions. First, there is the necessary papyrus plant a scribe would need
to produce the paper, then there is the necessity of a sedentary situation
to produce it: the use of papyrus does after all suggest a scribal tradition
based in a city by a river, eg the Nile, that supports the papyrus. It takes
time and a stable environment for the preparation of papyrus.

At the same time while papyrus is lighter than clay tablets, it occupies
much more space and requires relatively careful treatment, being maintained
in scrolls. I cannot imagine a nomadic people carrying around a huge wooden
box in order to maintain scrolls.

If the suggestion of papyrus arises from the possible Hebrew contact during
a middle bronze sojourn in Egypt, one should realise that the scribal
tradition in Egypt was maintained in priesthoods: the scribe of the flocks
of the pharaoh will also be a priest of -- say -- Ptah. Along with the
epithet "able scribe" we find "able priest-reader" and in one necropolis we
find only the use of the latter. 

However, the exodus is so dubious in most of its facets, both logistic and
historical, that the possibility of a hypothetical grafting of an Egyptian
scribal praxis onto the Hebrew tradition in such a situation as the exodus
seems extremely remote. (A possible scenario for the exodus is speculation
by Hebrews -- exiled in Egypt after Nebuchadnezzar -- on the Egyptian
narratives of the eviction of the Hyksos back into Palestine -- Josephus
found such a narrative in Manetho. This speculation was combined with the
tradition of Moses receiving the law on Horeb and the conquest from across
the Jordan. The Egyptologist Donald Redford has written an important book on
the relations between Egypt and Palestine that I'd heartily recommend:
"Egypt, Canaan and Israel in Ancient Times", Princeton U.P., 1992, beside
Go"sta Ahlstrom's "History of Ancient Palestine", Fortress, 1992 -- for both
the exodus and the conquest.)

>At a later stage e.g. during the monarchy 
>papyrus could have been imported from Egypt. (IVP "New Bible 
>Dictionary" s.v. Papyri speaks of records of import of papyrus to 
>Byblos c.1090 BC). Papyrus would not survive for millennia in the 
>relatively damp soil of Canaan - and that is perhaps why we have very 
>few written records from pre-exilic Israel. ("New Bible Dictionary" 
>mentions a 7th-8th century BC Hebrew papyrus fragment from Wadi 
>Murabbaat - is that dating accepted?)

Strangely enough there does seem to have been such a document amongst the
ben Kosiba finds at Murabba'at: Mur 17, a list of names.


Ian