The Lachish Letters

393 Pages·2017·2.85 MB·English

by  Abigail Zammit

The Lachish Letters:
A Reappraisal of the Ostraca
Discovered in 1935 and 1938 at Tell ed-Duweir

Abigail Zammit

Volume I

A dissertation presented to the Faculty of Oriental Studies
in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
at the University of Oxford

St Antony’s College

2016
Dedicated to the memory of
James Leslie Starkey (1895–1938),
Olga Tufnell (1905–1985),
Gerald Lankester Harding (1901–1979),
and Harry Torczyner (Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai) (1886–1973).
The Lachish Letters: A Reappraisal of the Ostraca
Discovered in 1935 and 1938 at Tell ed-Duweir

Abigail Zammit, St Antony’s College

DPhil in Oriental Studies, Michaelmas 2016

ABSTRACT

The 21 inscribed ceramic sherds (or ostraca) known as the “Lachish Letters”, which were
discovered during the British Mandate Period excavations of Tell ed-Duweir (Lachish),
underwent eighty years of scholarship that improved our understanding of at least some of
these inscriptions. The archive is terse and fragmentary, and the least well-preserved and
faded ostraca from this collection have been seriously overlooked, ironically when the
“Lachish Letters” have more or less been regarded as a homogenous group of documents
written during the final decades of the Judahite kingdom. Some of the ostraca were
discovered in different stratigraphic contexts and pertaining to different settings, if not
timeframes.

The principal aim of this study is to produce an updated edition of these ostraca by objectively
and systematically reassessing and understanding these artefacts, the inscriptions they bear,
and their respective stratigraphic layers and archaeological contexts. This is carried out by
integrating past studies and modern-day developments on the ostraca (and the site itself) from
different perspectives: archaeology, palaeography, philology, the Hebrew Bible, and Classical
Hebrew studies. This interdisciplinary approach enables a revision of outstanding
controversial issues and a dismissal of outdated proposals on the readings, interpretation, and
import of these ostraca in their contemporary world. Despite the illegibility of some
inscriptions, this study pays attention to all 21 ostraca via physical examination under the
lens, to confirm or deny any dubious readings as far as the naked eye can tell us. A crucial
criterion is the integration of photographic data and written documentation gathered from
unpublished and archived material of the Mandate Period that were accessible to the author at
the time of writing.

The study concludes that this surviving group of ostraca is far from homogeneous, and there
still exist lacunae in their historico-archaeological contexts and interpretations. Our
understanding of the source and function of the ostraca (especially the few legible messages
and lists of names) remains riddled with controversies, which derive from the fragmentary
nature of the corpus and the limitations in the documentation and preservation of these
artefacts.

Word count: 99,545

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study would not have been possible without the valuable feedback, assistance, and
contribution of so many individuals behind the scenes. First and foremost, I deeply thank my
supervisor, Hugh G. M. Williamson, for his guidance, support, and friendship throughout the
entire study period. I extend my gratitude to Jonathan Stökl for his inspiring suggestions and
feedback on earlier drafts of my dissertation. I am also deeply grateful to John Day, Kevin J.
Cathcart, Jan Joosten, John Barton, Dennis Mizzi, Edward J. Bridge, Lily Singer-Avitz,
Daniel A. Vella, and Reinhard G. Lehmann for their constructive comments and friendly
discussions on parts of my dissertation and further aspects related to the subject. A special
appreciation goes towards Anthony J. Frendo for supporting this entire project from its
conception, and for suggesting the need for a reappraisal of this group of ostraca in the first
place.

I thank the staff of the Palestine Exploration Fund (London), namely Felicity Cobbing, John
MacDermot, Penny Butler, and Ivona Lloyd-Jones, for their kind permission and assistance
during consultation of the Olga Tufnell Archive. I deeply thank the Trustees of the British
Museum for kindly permitting the physical examination and photography of the collection of
Lachish ostraca and related ceramics housed there. The consultation of the archives of the
British Mandate Period excavations at Tell ed-Duweir, held at the Department of the Middle
East at the British Museum, was generously facilitated by Jonathan N. Tubb, Rupert L.
Chapman III, Samuel Atkins, and Sarah Choy. I am also grateful for the assistance of Sarah
Collins, T. Sam N. Moorhead, and St John Simpson. I further owe my gratitude to the
curators and staff of the following museums in Jerusalem, for their kind permission and
support to work on the rest of the Lachish ostraca held there, namely Eran Arie, Shira Dan,
and Connie Green (Israel Museum), Rachael Arenstein, Filip Vukosavovic, Sue Vukosavovic,
iv
and Rachel Balanson (Bible Lands Museum), and the staff of the Israel Antiquities Authority
at the Rockefeller Museum, in particular Alegre Savariego, Silvia Krapiwko, Clara Amit,
Yael Barschak, and Fawzi Ibrahim. I am grateful to the Very Reverend Hosam E. Naoum
(Dean of St George’s Anglican Cathedral, Jerusalem) for his permission to visit the Mount
Zion Protestant Cemetery, where the director of the British Mandate Period excavations of
Tell ed-Duweir, James Leslie Starkey, was interred. A word of thanks also goes towards the
directors of the respective excavations of Tell ed-Duweir and Tel Azekah going on at the time
of writing, particularly Yosef Garfinkel, Oded Lipschits, and Yuval Gadot. I wish to thank
Shatil Emmanuilov for kindly supplying me with helpful images of the Tel Azekah
excavations, and Catherine Quine for her swift assistance with regards to my enquiries about
Tel Azekah. I am grateful to the staff of the Kenyon Research Institute, Jerusalem, for
making my sojourn in Jerusalem very pleasant and memorable.

Special thanks also go to Kris J. Udd (Grace University, Omaha, Nebraska) for kindly
reproducing fonts of the nuanced Palaeo-Hebrew scripts of the Lachish ostraca and for
permitting their use in this dissertation. I also thank the Israel Antiquities Authority, Nadine
Meouchy (Presses de l'Ifpo), and Isabella Erb (WBG – Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft)
for their permission to make use of images. I am thankful to fellow scholars and friends in
Oxford, in particular Paul Collins, Esther Shallan, Margaret Vermes, Sonja Noll, and Fran
Reynolds. I am also grateful for the assistance of Amara Thornton and Rachael Sparks
(University College London, Institute of Archaeology), and Zuleika Rodgers (Weingreen
Museum of Biblical Antiquities, Trinity College, Dublin). I deeply thank the following
people for their kind aid and contribution: Christopher Rollston, Grace J. Park, Udo
Rüterswörden, Anat Mendel-Geberovich, Michael Avioz, Nathaniel Zammit, Andrew Paverd,
André Lemaire, Lindsey Arielle Askin, James Patrick, Israel Ephal, Konrad Ehlich, David
v
Ussishkin, and Shmuel Aḥituv. I also thank Diane Debrincat and her family for their warm
hospitality during my research trips in London. I owe a debt of gratitude to my colleagues at
the University of Malta for their kind support throughout my research course, in particular
Nicholas C. Vella, Rebecca Farrugia, Carmel Serracino, Martin R. Zammit, and Chris
Gemmell. I deeply thank Louisa Borg for her never-ending support and friendly shoulder
throughout the entire study period, no matter how laborious it got. The Maltese Oriental
Society is to be thanked for hosting my public lecture on this project at the University of
Malta on 16 April 2014.

I would like to thank the Malta Government Scholarships Post-Graduate Scheme for partially
funding my research course. My research visit in Israel would not have been possible without
the travel grants of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society and the Palestine Exploration
Fund in London, and the Carr & Stahl Fund (St Antony’s College, University of Oxford).

Special thanks also go to Jonathan Sammut for his keen enthusiasm and constant patience
while being my personal chauffeur and assistant throughout my research trips and site visits in
Israel in May 2015. Last but not least, I wholeheartedly thank my family for their endless
encouragement and support throughout the lengthy study period, and for being my source of
strength during my endeavours and decisions.

This research is dedicated to the memory of four key figures in relation to the discovery and
initial study of the “Lachish Letters” – James Leslie Starkey, Olga Tufnell, Gerald Lankester
Harding, and Harry Torczyner (later Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai) – who have left this legacy for us
to build upon.

vi
DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY

I, the undersigned, declare that I am the legitimate author of this dissertation and that it is my
original work, gathered and utilized especially to fulfill the purposes and objectives of this
study. No portion of this work has been submitted in support of an application for another
degree or qualification of this or any other university or institution of higher education. I also
declare that the publications cited in this work have been personally consulted.

Abigail Zammit 22 November 2016

vii
Disclaimer

All Oxford University Press (OUP) content is excluded from any Creative Commons-style
license that might allow onward re-use. Permission to reproduce any OUP content (even in
the context of this dissertation) needs to be sought from OUP directly without fail
(www.oup.com).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME I
page
Abstract iii
Acknowledgments iv
Declaration of Authenticity vii
Abbreviations xi
List of Figures xiv
List of Tables xx

Introduction 1

THE SITE

1. The Excavations at Tell ed-Duweir 9
1.1 The site’s identification 9
1.2 Expeditions at Tell ed-Duweir 12
1.2.1 The Wellcome-Marston Expedition 12
1.2.2 Aharoni’s Excavations 16
1.2.3 The Renewed Excavations 18
1.2.4 The Fourth Expedition to Lachish 21
1.2.5 The Israel Antiquities Authority Excavations 22
1.3 Iron Age Lachish: dating debates on Levels III and II 22
1.4 The “guardroom” 32
1.4.1 The British excavations of the “guardroom” (E.18:C) 32
1.4.2 The renewed excavations of the “guardroom” (Locus [E.18:C]) 38
1.4.3 The Restoration Project of the Lachish gate complex and roadway 38
1.5 The “Lachish Letters” come to light in 1935 41
1.6 Three more ostraca discovered in 1938 44
1.6.1 The south-western corner debris (Area 500) 44
1.6.2 Room L.12:1065 47
1.7 Concluding remarks 48

THE OSTRACA

2. The “Lachish Letters”: Publications, Palaeography, and
Grammatical Features 51
2.1 Publications and the editio princeps 51
2.2 Ink constituents 56
2.3 Script and style: a palaeographic summary 58
2.4 Word division, scriptio continua, and ligatures 79
2.5 Hieratic numerals 82
2.6 Matres lectionis in epigraphic Hebrew 84
2.7 Concluding remarks 92

3. A Philological Discussion 94
viii
3.1 The content: military correspondence, lists, and other documents 95
3.1.1 Lachish 1 95
3.1.2 Lachish 2 100
3.1.3 Lachish 3 113
3.1.4 Lachish 4 132
3.1.5 Lachish 5 140
3.1.6 Lachish 6 146
3.1.7 Lachish 7 149
3.1.8 Lachish 8 150
3.1.9 Lachish 9 152
3.1.10 Lachish 10 154
3.1.11 Lachish 11 155
3.1.12 Lachish 12 156
3.1.13 Lachish 13 158
3.1.14 Lachish 14 161
3.1.15 Lachish 15 161
3.1.16 Lachish 16 162
3.1.17 Lachish 17 163
3.1.18 Lachish 18 164
3.1.19 Lachish 19 166
3.1.20 Lachish 20 171
3.1.21 Lachish 21 174
3.2 Concluding remarks 180

4. Literacy, Language, and Onomastics 182
4.1 Literacy among the social classes 182
4.2 Different handwritings 187
4.3 The ostracon and the spr (רפס) 193
4.4. Record-keeping and the gatehouse 196
4.5 Social status: formal and deferential language 198
4.5.1 Polite epistolary style: the use of blessing formulae 199
4.5.2 Servile humbleness: the use of deferential formulae 204
4.5.3 Address formulae and the use of first and third person 210
4.6 The use of the Divine Name 212
4.7 Names and name lists 213
4.8 Concluding remarks 219

REAPPRAISALS

5. The “Lachish Letters” in Context: Archaeological and
Epigraphic Reassessments 222
5.1 Archaeological lacunae: Starkey’s excavation method, and the insufficient
data of the British reports 222
5.2 Lingering issues on the nature and origin of the ostraca 227
5.2.1 Ceramic and imaging tests 227
5.2.2 The problematic Type 498 holemouth storage jar 228
5.2.3 Inscribed and non-inscribed repaired ceramic sherds 237
5.2.4 Letters, copies, or drafts?: Yadin’s revolutionizing theory 239
5.2.5 Ussishkin’s views on the “Lachish Letters” 243
ix