Biblical Hebrew Forum

[fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>]

Hello James:

I hope that you are correct. I hope that an isaiah scroll length; or an
edwin smith papyrus length, document will be found that dates to 1,000 b.c.,
or earlier; and is generated in the southern levant, alphabet writing
system.

My comment about the size and importance of ugarit was made in relation and
not in isolation. The rulers of the earth at that time lived in the nile and
euphrates river valleys, and not anywhere near ugarit.

regards,

fred burlingame

On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 8:00 AM, James Spinti <JSpinti AT eisenbrauns.com>wrote:

> Ugarit was NOT a "small and unimportant city." It was a major port in
> the 2nd millennium. There is also evidence of variations on the Ugaritic
> alphabet--but all so far have been dead-ends. But, every time someone
> turns over a stone in the near east, that could change...
>
> Also, they are continuing to uncover inscriptions in the Levant. See,
> for example:
> Literate Culture and Tenth-Century Canaan: The Tel Zayit Abecedary in
> Context
> Edited by Ron E. Tappy and P. Kyle McCarter Jr.
> And, most recently:
> Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence
> from the Iron Age
> by Christopher Rollston
>
> McCarter and Rollston are some of the leading Hebrew epigraphers right
> now.
>
> James
>
>