Image from CNN Interractive (now
expired) 
The Temple Ostracon
bytyhwh - House of the Lord
Last Updated January 23rd, 1998.
An ostracon (piece of broken pottery) has turned
up, seemingly out of nowhere, containing a receipt of 3 shekels offered
to the "House of YHWH" (Yahweh/the LORD) by "Ashyahu the King". CNN
Interractive reported the find as perhaps the earliest mention of Solomon's
Temple beyond the pages of the Bible. A bracket chronology of the
9th - 7th centuries BCE was posited.
However, the authenticity of the ostracon has yet
to be proved. The strange circumstances of its find, coupled with other
epigraphical questions, lead toward a stance that the ostacon is a forgery.
However, as research on the ostracon is in its fledgling stage, judgment
must be reserved. Further critical investigation must be done before any
firm conclusions are reached for or against its authenticity.
It is hoped that this website can become a
forum for such critical investigation. If you have any comments about the
ostracon, any essays, papers, reference, information, or suggestions, please
contact George Athas (email below) using the subject heading OSTRACON.
All contributions deemed valuable will be published at this site.
A
Transliteration and Translation of the Text
Visit
the Tel Dan Inscription Website
Some issues to think about for contributions (you may
wish to ask/answer others, too):
Is the ostracon
authentic? What evidence speaks for or against it?
Who was Ashyahu?
What date can
we assign it palaeographically?
What can be said
about its form and textual alignment?
What significance
does the position of SHIN under the missing ZAYIN have?
(Thanks to Dr Reinhard G. Lehmann of Johannes-Gutenberg
Universitat Mainz for raising these last two issues.)
[email protected]
George Athas
PhD (cand.) University of Sydney, Australia
Tutor of Hebrew, Moore Theological College, Sydney.
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