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orion spaceless BYTYHWH inscription!
(I'm resending this post because I got a funny rejection message due to
happenstance wording near the end of the message, so I don't know whether
it will reach the list and have changed the "offending" sentence. Please
forgive me if it appears twice!)
Folks,
A fascinating report (with clear photograph) appears in the latest BAR,
concerning an ostracon that recently surfaced on the antiquities market.
Obviously, such objects must initially be viewed with suspicion, but this
one has (according to the report) been authenticated by several different
labs. The author of the BAR report (You-guess-who!) acknowledges the
assistance of two experts, P. Kyle McCarter and Benjamin Sass, in
preparing it.
The inscription appears to be some kind of a receipt for (or at least a
record of) a donation to a temple called *BYTYHWH* (that is, BYT YHWH
written as one word with no space between BYT and YHWH -- similar to the
Tel Dan inscription, which (albeit in square Aramaic characters) likewise
lacks a space between BYT and DWD. It is written in ancient Hebrew
characters and is claimed to refer to the First Temple. (Apparently a full
write-up is going to appear soon in the Near Eastern Archaeologist).
So, it seems that H.S. has once again set the cat among the pigeons!
The ball is now back in the court of the BETDOD-NIKS.......
"Agog with Anticipation"
Judith Romney Wegner
jrw@brown.edu