Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 09/11/2005 12:15, Yitzhak Sapir wrote:

> ...
> http://www.lebaneselobby.org/News__index/news%202005/11%2009%2005%20A%20Is%20for%20Ancient,%20Describing%20an%20Alphabet%20Found%20Near%20Jerusalem%20By.htm
>
> A comment in the article touches on a point recently discussed in this list:
> "All successive alphabets in the ancient world, including the Greek
> one, derive from this ancestor at Tel Zayit," Ron Tappy said.
>  

Yes, but in his overenthusiasm he contradicts the more careful "at this 
stage the Hebrew alphabet was still in transition from its Phoenician 
roots, but recognizably Hebrew", which implies that this Tel Zayit 
version is derived from Phoenician rather than vice versa. It would also 
be interesting to compare this for style and date with the Gezer 
calendar, said to be from the same century and from not very far away.

It seems to me that the more significant points here are:

> The inscription was found in the context of a substantial network of 
> buildings at the site, which led Dr. Tappy to propose that Tel Zayit 
> was probably an important border town established by an expanding 
> Israelite kingdom based in Jerusalem.
>
> A border town of such size and culture, Dr. Tappy said, suggested a 
> centralized bureaucracy, political leadership and literacy levels that 
> seemed to support the biblical image of the unified kingdom of David 
> and Solomon in the 10th century B.C.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/