Gezer calendar

The Gezer calendar is a tablet of soft limestone inscription in paleo-Hebrew script. It is one of the oldest known examples of Hebrew writing, dating to the 10th century BCE. It was discovered in excavations of the ancient Canaanite city of Gezer , 50 km northwest of Jerusalem, by R.A.S. Macalister in his excavations between 1902 and 1907. The calendar describes monthly or bi-monthly periods and attributes to each a duty such as harvest, planting, or tending specific crops. It reads: "Two months of harvest Two months of planting Two months are late planting One month of hoeing One month of barley-harvest One month of harvest and festival Two months of grape harvesting One month of summer fruit" Abijah Scholars have speculated that the calendar is either a schoolboy's memory exercise or perhaps the text of a popular folk song , or child's song. Another possibility is something designed for the collection of taxes from farmers. "Abijah" is, in all likelihood, the name of the scribe. His name means "Yah (Abbreviated form of YHWH, the Hebrew name of the God of Israel) is my father." This name appears in the Bible for several different individuals, including a king of Judah (1 Kings 14:31). The Gezer Calendar is in the Museum of the Ancient Orient , one of the Istanbul Archaeology Museums , along with the Siloam inscription and other archaeological discoveries found before World War I .

Replica of the Gezer calendar in Israel Museum , Israel. The Gezer calendar is a small inscribed limestone tablet discovered in the ancient Canaanite city of Gezer , 20 miles west of Jerusalem . It is commonly dated to the 10th-century BCE, although its identification during the excavations was not in a "secure archaeological context", presenting uncertainty around the dating. Scholars are divided as to whether the language is Phoenician or Hebrew and whether the script is Phoenician (or Proto-Canaanite ) or paleo-Hebrew . Quote: "The first thing to consider when examining an ancient inscription is whether it was discovered in context or not. It is obvious that a document purchased on the antiquities market is suspect. If it was found in an archeological site, one should note whether it was found in its primary context, as with the inscription of King Achish from Ekron , or in secondary use, as with the Tel Dan inscription. Of course texts that were found in an archaeological site, but not in a secure archaeological context present certain problems of exact dating, as with the Gezer Calendar." Smith, Mark S. The Early History of God: Yahweh and the other deities in ancient Israel . The Calendar Tablet from Gezer, Adam L Bean, Emmanual School of Religion Is it “Tenable”?, Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Review Spelling in the Hebrew Bible: Dahood memorial lecture, By Francis I. Linguistic Studies in Phoenician, ed. Holmstedt and Aaron Schade .

Replica of the Gezer calendar in Israel Museum , Israel. The Gezer calendar is a small inscribed limestone tablet discovered in 1908 by Irish archaeologist R. Stewart Macalister in the ancient Canaanite city of Gezer , 20 miles west of Jerusalem . It is commonly dated to the 10th century BCE, although the excavation was unstratified and its identification during the excavations was not in a "secure archaeological context", presenting uncertainty around the dating. Scholars are divided as to whether the language is Phoenician or Hebrew and whether the script is Phoenician (or Proto-Canaanite ) or paleo-Hebrew . JSTOR 25066976 . ...compromised archaeological contexts (e.g. the unstratified Gezer calendar... : Invalid |ref=harv ( help ) Aaron Demsky (2007), Reading Northwest Semitic Inscriptions , Near Eastern Archaeology 70/2. Quote: "The first thing to consider when examining an ancient inscription is whether it was discovered in context or not. It is obvious that a document purchased on the antiquities market is suspect. If it was found in an archeological site, one should note whether it was found in its primary context, as with the inscription of King Achish from Ekron , or in secondary use, as with the Tel Dan inscription. Of course texts that were found in an archaeological site, but not in a secure archaeological context present certain problems of exact dating, as with the Gezer Calendar." Smith, Mark S. The Early History of God: Yahweh and the other deities in ancient Israel . Linguistic Studies in Phoenician, ed. Holmstedt and Aaron Schade .

Small limestone tablet with an early Canaanite inscription Replica of the Gezer calendar in Israel Museum , Israel. The Gezer calendar is a small limestone tablet with an early Canaanite inscription discovered in 1908 by Irish archaeologist R. Stewart Macalister in the ancient city of Gezer , 20 miles west of Jerusalem . It is commonly dated to the 10th century BCE, although the excavation was unstratified and its identification during the excavations was not in a "secure archaeological context", presenting uncertainty around the dating. Scholars are divided as to whether the language is Phoenician or Hebrew and whether the script is Phoenician (or Proto-Canaanite ) or paleo-Hebrew . Koller argued that the language is Northern Hebrew. S2CID 163300154 . ...compromised archaeological contexts (e.g. the unstratified Gezer calendar... Quote: "The first thing to consider when examining an ancient inscription is whether it was discovered in context or not. It is obvious that a document purchased on the antiquities market is suspect. If it was found in an archeological site, one should note whether it was found in its primary context, as with the inscription of King Achish from Ekron , or in secondary use, as with the Tel Dan inscription. Of course texts that were found in an archaeological site, but not in a secure archaeological context present certain problems of exact dating, as with the Gezer Calendar." Koller, Aaron (2013). Linguistic Studies in Phoenician, ed. Holmstedt and Aaron Schade .