Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters

by Lindenberger, James M.; Richards, Kent Harold

• ISBN13: 9781589830363
• ISBN10: 1589830369
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-01
• Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature

Summary

An up-to-date translation of seventy-nine letters and fragments, virtually the complete corpus of surviving letters in Aramaic and Hebrew down to the time of Alexander, omitting only the most fragmentary and the most formulaic. This includes the correspondence from ancient Jewish writers at Yavneh-Yam (7th Century), Arad and Lachish (6th), and Elephantine (5th). There are also administrative letters from Persian bureaucrats, private commercial and family correspondence from Egypt, and other scattered letters from Assyria, Egypt, Philistia, and Idumaea. Also included are short notes in Edomite, Ammonite, and Phoenician. The revised edition is supplemented by nine new texts. Translations are now provided with line numbers, and some have been improved in the light of recent studies. Each letter appears alongside the original text in square script. Brief introductions set each group of letters into its historical and social context. The arrangement within each language group is roughly chronological.

Author Biography

James M. Lindenberger is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, Canada.

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Foreword	ix
Abbreviations	xi
Explanation of Signs	xiii
Chronological Table	xiv
Maps	xvi
Acknowledgments	xix
Introduction	1	(14)
Translations	15	(2)
Aramaic Diplomatic-Military Correspondence	17	(8)
Ashur Ostracon (Report of an Assyrian Officer)	20	(3)
Adon Papyrus (Appeal to Pharaoh for Military Aid)	23	(2)
Business and Family Letters	25	(16)
Hermopolis 1	29	(1)
Hermopolis 3	30	(1)
Hermopolis 4	31	(1)
Hermopolis 2	32	(2)
Hermopolis 6	34	(1)
Hermopolis 5	35	(1)
Hermopolis 7	36	(1)
Padua 1 (To a Son on a Journey)	36	(2)
Padua 2 (A Son to His Mother)	38	(1)
Berlin Papyrus 23000 (Grain Shipments)	39	(2)
Ostraca from Elephantine	41	(20)
Berlin, St. Mus. 1137 (A Dream and Family Matters)	42	(1)
O. Cairo 35468a (Money for a Religious Society)	43	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 44 (A Report of Imprisonment)	44	(1)
Berlin, St. Mus. 11383 (Sheepshearing)	44	(1)
Berlin, St. Mus. 11383 (Bread and Flour)	45	(1)
Cambridge 131--133 (Sheep Marketing)	46	(1)
Bodleian Aram. Inscr. 1 [Lost] (Money and Slaves)	47	(1)
Bodleian Aram. Inscr. 7 (Family Messages: Passover)	48	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 70 (Repair of a Garment)	49	(1)
O. Cairo 49624 (Dedication of a Tunic)	49	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 152 (Handling of Produce and the Sabbath)	50	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 16 (Shopping Lists and Shipping Orders)	51	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 169 (Shopping Lists and Shipping Orders)	51	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 228 (Shopping Lists and Shipping Orders)	52	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 125? (Shopping Lists and Shipping Orders)	53	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 186 (Shopping Lists and Shipping Orders)	53	(1)
O. Cairo 35468b (Shopping Lists and Shipping Orders)	54	(1)
O. Clermont-Ganneau 277 (Greetings in the Names of the Gods)	55	(1)
BM 45035a (Miscellaneous)	55	(1)
BM 45035b (Miscellaneous)	56	(5)
Archives of the Jewish Community at Elephantine	61	(20)
AP 21 (Passover [?] and Unleavened Bread)	65	(2)
AP 38 (An Accusation and a Warning)	67	(1)
AP 56+34 (Riot and Imprisonment)	68	(2)
AP 27 (Accusation of Stopping a Well)	70	(2)
AP 30/31 (Razing of Temple and Petition for Aid)	72	(4)
AP 32 (Memorandum on Reconstructing the Temple)	76	(1)
AP 33 (A Petition and a Bribe)	77	(4)
Letters from Persian Officials	81	(26)
AD 2 (Appointment of a Steward)	85	(1)
AD 4 (Reprimand to an Insubordinate Officer)	86	(1)
AD 3 (Slaves)	87	(1)
AD 5 (Slaves)	88	(2)
AD 6 (Rations for a Traveling Party)	90	(1)
AD 8 (Restoration of an Estate to Its Rightful Heir)	91	(2)
AD 7 (Reprimand to a Negligent Steward)	93	(1)
AD 10 (Overdue Rent)	94	(2)
AD 11 (Overdue Rent)	96	(1)
AD 9 (Commission for a Sculptor)	97	(1)
AD 12 (Complaints)	98	(2)
AD 13 (Complaint of Unsatisfactory Goods)	100	(1)
AP 29 (A Boatyard Work Order)	101	(6)
Two Hebrew Petitions and a Royal Order	107	(6)
Yavneh-Yam (Petition of a Poor Man)	109	(1)
Moussaieff Hebrew Ostracon #2 (Petition of a Widow)	110	(1)
Moussaieff Hebrew Ostracon #1 (A Royal Order)	111	(2)
Judean Military-Administrative Letters from Arad and Lachish	113	(20)
Arad 40 (A Report from Edom)	118	(1)
Arad 88 (A Royal Fragment)	119	(1)
Arad 24 (Orders from the King)	119	(1)
Arad 21 (Fragmentary Letter)	120	(1)
Arad 18 (Rations and Other Matters)	121	(1)
Arad 1 (Rations and Other Matters)	121	(1)
Arad 2 (Rations and Other Matters)	122	(1)
Arad 3 (Rations and Other Matters)	122	(1)
Arad 17 (Rations and Other Matters)	123	(1)
Arad 16 (Rations and Other Matters)	124	(1)
Lachish 2 (Greetings to a Superior Officer)	124	(1)
Lachish 3 (Protest of Literacy, Troop Movements, etc.)	125	(1)
Lachish 4 (Report on Signal-Fire and Other Matters)	126	(1)
Lachish 6 (Morale)	127	(1)
Lachish 16 (Fragment Mentioning a Prophet)	128	(1)
Lachish 5 (Rations)	129	(1)
Lachish 9 (Rations)	129	(4)
Fragmentary and Miscellaneous	133	(10)
Epistolary Formulas from Kuntillet `Ajrud	136	(1)
DJD 2, 17a (A Papyrus Letter Fragment from Muraba `at)	137	(1)
Horvat `Uza (An Edomite Note concerning Grain Delivery)	137	(1)
Tell el-Mazar (An Ammonite Note concerning Grain)	138	(1)
Saqqara (A Phoenician Letter)	138	(1)
Idumea Ostr 199 (An Aramaic Note concerning a Debt)	139	(1)
Idumea Ostr 196 (An Aramaic Note concerning the Release of a Woman)	140	(3)
Sources	143	(6)
Concordance of Texts	149	(8)
Bibliography	157	(14)
Glossary	171	(4)
Indexes	175