Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions

The purpose of this Element is twofold. First, it offers an up-to-date introduction to Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions. Second, it argues that the wealth of information they yield about ancient Israel and Judah is underappreciated and needs to be reevaluated. To these ends, it first briefly retraces the slow rediscovery of the Paleo-Hebrew script by modern scholars from the Renaissance onward and shows that it remained poorly identified by many until the second third of the twentieth century. Even today, most historians focus on a few iconic inscriptions or sets of inscriptions in specific periods. This Element then retraces the biography of the script in its entirety and highlights the surprising variety of its uses over more than a millennium. Finally, it shows, by a selection of relevant documents, how Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions shed light on daily life, historical events, religious beliefs and practices, and literacy in ancient Israel and Judah.