[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
orion Potlais/Peitlaus 4Q468
On the reading reported by Broshi 1998 (JJS 49,
341-345) as PWTL'YS, which I proposed is the
name of the Jewish general "Peitholaus" named by
Josephus in the 50's BCE (reading PYTL'YS),
I may have identified another name on a different
fragment on the same plate: "Aristobulus". The
reading is difficult and not certain, but here is the
case for it.
The plate is PAM 43.400 and the fragment I am
looking at is the third down from the top, far right.
I see . . .
Line 1: /SDTW -vacat- /his field.
Line 2: /'NshY 'RS/ (TBLWS) /the men of
Aris(tobulus)
with Aleph certain, but R and S
uncertain
Line 3: /GDWL ./ /great
Line 4: /L . GLWT/ /... exile (or captivity)/
In line 2 the reading "men of--" is clear. The first
letter of what follows is a clear Aleph. The
remains of two letters which follow are difficult
and a crack has separated the ink at the tops
of the letters from below. However comparing
to letters on other fragments on the same plate
Resh and Samekh as the next two are plausible
readings. The rest of "Aristobulus" is restored.
Notably, Peitholaus appears in Josephus as
having joined his army to the men of Aristobulus
in Aristobulus's revolt of the 50's BCE. The revolt
was crushed and Josephus says Aristobulus was
sent in chains to Rome (Ant 14.93-97).
If the name above isn't "Aristobulus", what other name
or word could it be that is palaeographically defensible
in terms of the visible letter remains? If it is Aristobulus,
then this reinforces the correctness of the identification
of "Peitholaus" in the other fragment on the same plate.
And the names of mid-1st BCE keep piling up, with no
hint of a name or reference as late as the Herodian
period, in any Qumran text.
Greg Doudna
Greg Doudna
Research Associate
University of Copenhagen Dead Sea Scrolls Initiative
Kobmagergade 44-46
1150 Copenhagen K DENMARK
tel: (+45) 35 32 36 34 fax: (+45) 35 32 36 52 email: gd@teol.ku.dk