Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Rochelle Altman <willaa AT netvision.net.il>]

> At 10:37 PM 2/10/2006, Dave W. wrote:
>
> > Uh, who made it, and where, and when, and did they give any backing of any
> > kind?
>
> Hi, Dave,
>
> Who made them (more than one, you know)? Now I have a time machine?
> What you're asking is where was the bookshop. Possibly at the Khirbet..
>
> When? An educated guess is 1st BCE.
>
> Backing? Bookshops just need a master scribe who decides there's a market 
> for the products. He starts out by himself. Next step --: enough clients 
> to warrant hiring two to four scribes.; All that's needed is a small 
> amount of capital and a couple of square meters of space to work in.
> It was normal for clients pay for the materials in advance. It's the labor 
> of writing that's paid for when the product is delivered.  No reason to 
> think that bookshops in Judea were run on a different basis then those in 
> Rome or anywhere else. BTW, the Romans had official price lists on quality 
> levels, etc..
>
> It's the type of business that can be run just about anywhere you can find 
> a workspace to rent and work in. It's labor intensive, but profitable. 
> It's also the kind of thing we could expect at a place like Khirbet Qumran.
>
> See my note to Ken.
>
> Rochelle
>
>
>
> > On Friday 10 February 2006 13:25, Ken Penner wrote:
> > > I'd be interested to hear your support for the following claim:
> > > > Examples of bookshop products may be found among the DSS.
> > >
> > > Ken Penner
> > > Dead Sea Scrolls scholars' list owner,
> > > http://mailman.mcmaster.ca/mailman/listinfo/g-megillot McMaster/DSS
> > > _______________________________________________
> > >
> > Dave Washburn
> > http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
> > "Maybe I'll trade it for a new hat."