Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ishnian" <ishinan AT comcast.net>]

Jim wrote:  I believe that the famous Qeiyafa Ostracon may give us a pretty definitive answer to that question.  So I would like to turn now to taking a quick look at the first alphabetical writing that some scholars have called “Hebrew”, in order to ask whether alphabetical writing was a reasonable alternative to using cuneiform, if the first written version of the Patriarchal narratives was recorded in writing in the mid-14th century BCE.

 

Ishinan: Unfortunately, this a dead-end path for your suggestion above. As I recall,  Christopher Rollston*  disputes the claim that the language is Hebrew, arguing that the words alleged to be indicative of Hebrew either appear in other languages or don't actually appear in the inscription.

 

* see:Rollston, Christopher,  "The Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon:
Methodological Musings and Caveats". Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of
Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, (June 2011)."

 

Best regards

 

Ishinan Ishibashi