Ancient Jews more literate than previously thought

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

rogue06
Before you start making pejorative and/or snide remarks no one is disputing that sections of 7th century BCE Judahite society was literate. The question is, how far [and to what level] did literacy extend among the general populace?

[Sparko]

rogue06
Before you start making pejorative and/or snide remarks no one is disputing that sections of 7th century BCE Judahite society was literate. The question is, how far [and to what level] did literacy extend among the general populace?

Probably pretty extensive, considering from the gospels and NT we know that even lowly carpenters and fishermen were literate.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

Probably pretty extensive, considering from the gospels and NT we know that even lowly carpenters and fishermen were literate.

Let us not venture into the realms of fantasy and suggest that Jesus and his disciples were walking around Galilee with their copies of The Iliad in the original Attic Greek under their arms.

The period in question is the 7th century BCE not the late first century CE, which is when the earliest canonical gospel was written.

[rogue06]

On what attested historical evidence?


That is nearly 600 years later than the period discussed in the paper.

Again, that is a much later period in history.

You may as well try and equate literacy levels in western Europe in the 1000s with those of the 1600s.

What precise historical period is being referenced?

Most of this is answered and understood by paying attention to the first sentence in my post.

Bar-Ilan was referring to the 1st century (remember that first sentence)

[rogue06]

Let us not venture into the realms of fantasy and suggest that Jesus and his disciples were walking around Galilee with their copies of The Iliad in the original Attic Greek under their arms.

You must reside in a world full of ridiculous extremes.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

Most of this is answered and understood by paying attention to the first sentence in my post.

Bar-Ilan was referring to the 1st century (remember that first sentence)

The first sentence in your post was a generalised statement.

While reading up on literacy rates in ancient Israel, it seems that the rate fluctuated greatly.

At what precise periods in "ancient Israel" did this literacy "rate" fluctuate "greatly"?

As I pointed out two of the sources you cited were referencing much later periods in history.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

You must reside in a world full of ridiculous extremes.

I consider it highly unlikely that a group of Galilean peasants were fluent in writing [and reading] Koine Greek.

As Chancey notes in his introduction to The Myth of a Gentile Galilee

Galilee’s earlier history explains how it became predominantly Jewish, and, in the first century CE, Josephus and the authors of the Gospels regarded it as a region where circumcision, Sabbath observance, loyalty to the Jerusalem temple, and purity were major concerns. Archaeological discoveries clearly attest to Jewish burial and purity practices at several sites. In contrast, evidence for pagans in first-century CE Galilee is surprisingly slim in both the literary and the archaeological records. There appears to be little reason to talk either about Galilee’s “predominantly gentile population” or, alternatively, its “sizable and highly visible” gentile minority, and, thus, little reason to place special emphasis on the gentile component of Galilee’s population when discussing its cultural milieu.

[...] I am not trying here to resolve such questions as how widely Greek was used or whether or not Cynic philosophers roamed Galilee. Instead, I am arguing that, in light of the ample evidence in Galilee for Judaism and the minimal evidence of paganism, discussions of the region in New Testament scholarship should always reflect the Jewish identities of the overwhelming majority of its inhabitants.

[Sparko]

Let us not venture into the realms of fantasy and suggest that Jesus and his disciples were walking around Galilee with their copies of The Iliad in the original Attic Greek under their arms.

The period in question is the 7th century BCE not the late first century CE, which is when the earliest canonical gospel was written.

As Rogue06 said, 'You must reside in a world full of ridiculous extremes.'

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

As Rogue06 said, 'You must reside in a world full of ridiculous extremes.'

Your comment deserved the reply it received.

[Sparko]

Your comment deserved the reply it received.

As did yours. Twice.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

As did yours. Twice.

Writes the man who appears to accept that early first century CE Galilean Jewish peasants were fluent in Koine Greek.

[Cow Poke]

[shunyadragon]

To be kept in mind the next time someone drones on about the Bible being composed by "illiterate Bronze Age goat herders"

Source: New Evidence on When Bible Was Written: Ancient Shopping Lists

Eliashib, the quartermaster of the remote desert fortress, received his instructions in writing notes inscribed in ink on pottery asking for provisions to be sent to forces in the ancient kingdom of Judah.

The requests for wine, flour and oil read like mundane, if ancient, shopping lists. But a new analysis of the handwriting suggests that literacy may have been far more widespread than previously known in the Holy Land around 600 B.C., toward the end of the First Temple period. The findings, according to the researchers from Tel Aviv University, could have some bearing on a century-old debate about when the main body of biblical texts was composed.

To Eliashib: And now, give the Kittiyim 3 baths of wine, and write the name of the day, read one of the texts, composed in ancient Hebrew using the Aramaic alphabet, and apparently referring to a Greek mercenary unit in the area.

Another said: And a full homer of wine, bring tomorrow; dont be late. And if there is vinegar, give it to them.

The new study, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, combined archaeology, Jewish history and applied mathematics, and involved computerized image processing and the development of an algorithm to distinguish between the various authors issuing the commands.

Based on a statistical analysis of the results, and taking into account the content of the texts that were chosen for the sample, the researchers concluded that at least six different hands had written the 18 missives at around the same time. Even soldiers in the lower ranks of the Judahite army, it appears, could read and write.

There is something psychological beyond the statistics, said Prof. Israel Finkelstein of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations at Tel Aviv University, one of the leaders of the project. There is an understanding of the power of literacy. And they wrote well, with hardly any mistakes.



Source

© Copyright Original Source

I had long heard that the Jews were regarded as being among the most, if not the most, literate people in the Mediterranean region.

The abstract from the paper itself: Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judahs military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts

I believe literacy before 800-600 BCE was Proto-Canaanite and not Hebrew by the evidence, It is generally accepted that versions of proto-Canaanite were commonly used throughout the Levant. Yes, there was a degree of literacy apparent consisting of communication with small clay fragments used to communicate were common throughout the Levant. Based on the presence of libraries of Phoenician, Canaanite, Ugarit and older texts in the Northern Levant they were the most literate of the region, also they were regional trading powers which resulted in the development of extensive writing lacking among the Hebrews.

It remains we have no literary texts in Hebrew before 600 BCE.

[tabibito]

I believe literacy before 800-600 BCE was Proto-Canaanite and not Hebrew by the evidence, It is generally accepted that versions of proto-Canaanite were commonly used throughout the Levant. Yes, there was a degree of literacy apparent consisting of communication with small clay fragments used to communicate were common throughout the Levant. Based on the presence of libraries of Phoenician, Canaanite, Ugarit and older texts in the Northern Levant they were the most literate of the region, also they were regional trading powers which resulted in the development of extensive writing lacking among the Hebrews.

It remains we have no literary texts in Hebrew before 600 BCE.

How would texts be written with an alphabet that did not exist?

[shunyadragon]

How would texts be written with an alphabet that did not exist?

The Canaanite/Phoenician alphabet is what was used before Hebrew.