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corpus-paul - RE: synagogues) in Thessalonika

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Subject: Corpus-Paul

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  • From: "David C. Hindley" <DHindley AT compuserve.com>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: synagogues) in Thessalonika
  • Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 08:47:11 -0400


Message text written by "Corpus-paul"

>This synagogue (if that is indeed where the inscription originates) must
have been used by members of the Samaritan community, since the inscription
makes use of the Samaritan script.<

Jim,

Not having read the work cited in your reply to Jeffrey's, could you please
clarify whether "Samaritan" is the term used by your source, or is your
interpretive description of this script.

The reason I ask is that, as far as I know, the only difference in *script*
between Samaritan and Jewish Hebrew is the standard use of paleo-Hebrew
characters by the Samaritans. Still, it is not unknown in Jewish circles
either, notably among the Qumran texts and on coins of the Jewish revolts.
Coin scripts often share characteristics of inscription scripts. What I
think would characterize an inscription as "Samaritan" would be the use of
"long" orthography.

Could not this inscription have been made, with just as much liklihood, by
a Jewish group which favored paleo-Hebrew script for formal inscriptions?
The only factor arguing against this, from the information you relayed, is
the attribution of the inscription to the 4-6th century, as I would think
the use of paleo-Hebrew among Jews would have pretty much died out by the
end of the 2nd century.

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley,
Cleveland, Ohio, USA




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