Arad Ostracon (House of YHWH)

Ink-inscribed potsherd mentioning "the House of YHWH".

Date

c. 600 BCE

Culture

Judahite

Material

Pottery (ostracon)

Dimensions

~10 cm

Found at

Tel Arad, Negev, Israel

Held by

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Discovered by

Yohanan Aharoni (1966)

ostraconhebrewyhwhtemple

Description

One of over 100 Hebrew ostraca from the fortress of Arad in the Negev, dating to the final decades of the kingdom of Judah. Ostracon 18 references "the House of YHWH" — the Jerusalem Temple.

Biblical significance

The Arad ostraca provide contemporary witness to the functioning Jerusalem Temple, the divine name YHWH, and the daily administration of Judah on the eve of the Babylonian conquest.

From the same era

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