About | ostraca

ABOUT US

Most administrative and literary documents in ancient Israel and Judah were written on papyri. Yet, these texts did not survive the journey down the centuries. The only daily, non-monumental texts that endured the harsh local climate were the relatively few that were written in ink on pieces of pottery (ostraca). Since these inscriptions are the most frequent evidence of written Hebrew dated to the First Temple period, their analysis is crucial to the understanding of literacy in ancient Israel and Judah and the composition of biblical texts.

The aim of our multidisciplinary group is to tackle various epigraphic questions by developing new computerized tools that pertain to Statistical/Machine Learning, Image Processing, and Computer-Aided Design. Ostraca are often barely legible and present many difficulties to off-the-shelf solutions. Therefore, our research in the last few years has focused on solving some problems, avoiding others and shedding new light on literacy in biblical Israel and Judah through statistical analysis.

Our research has far-reaching implications for the fields of Epigraphy, Paleography, Biblical Studies and the History of Ancient Israel.

Main Achievements:

Improving the legibility of inscriptions via multispectral imaging. We have developed a multispectral imaging procedure dedicated to ostraca. In a series of publications we have proved its efficiency. Using this tool, we have revealed new written lines in well-known ostraca. Furthermore, we have recently discovered a new inscription on the back side of an ostracon that has been on display in the Israel Museum for half a century. An article on this discovery is under review by Plos One.
Developing algorithms designated to aid epigraphers. A computer-aided design tool that enables semi-automatic reconstruction of characters has been utilized extensively in our research. Several binarization algorithms dedicated to the case of ostraca as well as methods to evaluate their efficiency have been obtained.
Bettering the understanding of literacy in First Temple period Judah. In a recent PNAS publication, that was reported on the front page of The New York Times, we demonstrated that literacy spread throughout the military chain of command, down to a vice-quartermaster residing in a remote desert outpost. This is a significant revelation for biblical scholarship, including questions related to composition of biblical texts. In order to achieve this result we used statistical techniques applied on computer aided restorations of the inscriptions.