An Archaic Bacl Inscription from Tel Beth-Shemesh

Abstract

Two adjoining fragments of a storage jar bearing an archaic alphabetic inscription were found during the renewed excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh. Analysis indicates that, though found in separate contexts, the two sherds derived from a common source of predominately late Bronze ii and early iron i materials. A date of 1150–1100 BCE for the provenance of the inscription is most likely. The inscription consists of six or seven alphabetic signs incised on the jar before firing. Though only the word or name element bcl is unequivocally recognizable, the original inscription seems to have included a statement of ownership and an indication of the contents of the vessel. A paleographical analysis of the letter signs shows the writing to be characteristic of the mid-12th century BCE or slightly earlier and a date of ca. 1150 BCE, in accordance with its archaeological context, is entirely plausible. The use of the divine name Bacl may hint at the cultural background of the iron Age i population of Beth-Shemesh.