Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

STARBUCK: WilYDEClARE'1IETHINGSFOIHlIDDEN' 109

B,C.E.(I38).lC;PotterysamplesconfirmanIronIIdate,andZe'evMeshel
reportslhatNeutronActivationAnalysislocatestheirorigininthevicinity
ofJerusalelll,I7
Threepl<lsterinscnptionsattestHebrewlanguagewrittenin Phoeni-
cianscripLTwoadditionalplasterinscriptionsattest Hebrewwritten in
Hebrewletters.Oneoftheinscriptions,apparentlyaritualliturgy,twice
makesreferenceto"YahwehofTcmanandhisAsherah.nThemostexten-
siveplasterinscriptionalteststhelanguageoftheophanyofEI.Here,too,a
blessingisrecorded:"blessBaalin(the)dayofwar. thenameof£1in
(the)dayofwar."IH
Similarly,aninscriptionwrilteninredinkononeoftheI:Jrgepithoi
recordsapriestlikeblessingbyaccrtain"Amaryo"throughtheinvocation
of''YahwehofTeman[Edam! andhisAsherah." Inaddition,asecond
blessingcanbediscernedthatreads: "YahwehofShalmon!Samaria]and
hisAsherah"fromacertain"A[shyomilk]," Meshelsuggeststhistobea
referencetoJoash, thekingofnorthern Israelwhoruledfromapproxi-
mately802-786II.C.E.I?Curiously, thisinscription is writtenabovetwo
artistic representations of the Egyptian deity Bes. Additional figures,
namely,a seatedharp-playingfigurethatisprobablyanAsherahrepresen-
t~ltion,thetreeoflife,andvariousanimals,decoratetheslOragejaraswell.
Ontheotherpithos,fiveorsixhumansupplicantsarepaintedinproces-
sion. The relationship between the inscriptions and artwork is not
immediatelyevident,thoughit appearsthatthescribeandartistcomprise
twodifferempeople.2o
Fourinscriptionswerefoundontherimsofthestonebowls,themost
well preservedofwhich read, "Belonging toObadiah son ofAdnah.
I3lessed behetoYahw[ehJ."21 Presumablythebowlswcredcdicatedby
supplicantsseekingdivineblessing.
Meshelprovidedhisoverallassessmentin1997:

Thesubjectmattersoftheinscriplions,Iherderences 10 variousdeities,

:mdIhepresenceofdedicatedvesselsallsuggeslthatKuntillet'Ajrudwas

notatemplehut:1kindofreligiouscenter.Givenitslocation(itmayhave

heenassociatedwithjourneysofIheIsraelitestuEilatandtoEzion-Geher

:mdperhapswiththoseofpilgrimstosouthernSin:li),lheabsenceof

161'.KyleMcCarterJr.,"Aspect·,ofIheReligionof11K'hr;lt.:lileMonarchy,Biblical;lnd

EpigrJphicDal:l:inMiller,H:lnson,:md!\lcHridcAllciell/IsraeliteHelip,iulI, 1}8.

17 z,.:'t:~vMeshel.-Klimilid'AjnKI:OFA,v1ij:3tl.

18 (hid.

I?Ihid,3:312.

20 l'irhiplk-ck,111CDr;lwingsfromHorv:nTcimmn(Kumillct'Ajnld):'1/1 9 (]982):3-68

21 McCal1cr,"A:>[X:ctsoftheRcli~i<>n: 150,