Bible texts may have been composed earlier than thought, suggests study of ostraca inscriptions

The results of an analysis of ancient ostraca suggests that literacy rates were high throughout the military ranks in Judah as far back as 600 BCE, meaning Biblical texts may have been composed earlier than initially thought.

"We found indirect evidence of the existence of an educational infrastructure, which could have enabled the composition of biblical texts," said Professor Eliezer Piasetzky of Tel Aviv University, co-leader of the research, as quoted by Christian Today. "Literacy existed at all levels of the administrative, military and priestly systems of Judah. Reading and writing were not limited to a tiny elite."

According to the study titled "Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judah's military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts," scholars have been debating whether Biblical texts were compiled before 586 BCE, prior to King Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem, or after. It says that the creation of such texts require the proliferation of literacy.

Using sophisticated modern technology and computerized algorithms, the researchers at the Tel Aviv University looked into the texts handwritten on ancient ostraca or potsherds used for writing. These fragments, found previously in the Arad fortress near the Dead Sea and dated to around 600 BCE, contains the writing of at least six individuals.

The notes, according to the study, are not likely to have been written by scribes but "the written evidence suggests a high degree of literacy in the entire Judahite chain of command." The ones studied contain military orders about supplies and provisions, namely flour, wine, and oil. Most of the ones that mention what is believed to be a mercenary unit called Kittiyim are addressed to someone named Eliashib, the quartermaster in the fortress, and were found on the floor in one room. There are orders to the fortress from higher ranking officials, messages from neighboring forts, an inscription with "the King of Judah" in it, and another with "the house of YHWH."

"The results indicate that in this remote fort literacy had spread throughout the military hierarchy, down to the quartermaster and probably even below that rank," the study reads. "This implies that an educational infrastructure that could support the composition of literary texts in Judah already existed before the destruction of the first Temple."

However, according to The New York Times, Prof. Edward Greenstein of Bar-Ilan University cautions against making conclusions about the Pentateuch having been written down based on these findings on literacy rates. Rewrites, revisions, and supplements may have been involved in writing the Torah, says the report, or the scribes may have written them down to help them remember while still orally trasmitting them to the people.

"Biblical texts did not have to be written by many people, or read by many people, to have been written down," he said.