For those of you who may not have been updated on this, I would like to point out two new articles that have just recently appeared, that deal with relatively new finds from the excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath.
The first one is the in-depth publication of the so-called “Goliath Inscription” – the late Iron I/early Iron IIA archaic alphabetic inscription from Tell es-Safi/Gath, which according to our interpretation contains two non-Semitic, Indo-European (Aegean or Anatolian) names, written in alphabetic script. The names, while not directly etymologically connected to the name Goliath (as originally thought), are very nice examples of the use of non-Semitic names by the Philistines (such as, e.g., Goliath, Achish, and others) during the late Iron I/early Iron IIA. Also, it provides excellent contextual evidence for the relatively late appearance of very archaic style alphabet in Philistia. Needless to say, extra significance has been added to this find in light of the recently reported alphabetic inscription found at Kh. Qeiyafa, which is more or less of the same date.
The article has appeared in BASOR 351, and its full reference is:
Maeir, A.M., Wimmer, S.J., Zukerman, A., and Demsky, A. 2008
A Late Iron Age I/early Iron Age IIA Old Canaanite Inscription from Tell es-Sâfi/Gath, Israel: Palaeography, Dating, and Historical-Cultural Significance. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 351:39–71.
The second article is a short paper that just appeared in the conference volume that deals with feasting the Aegean, based on the papers delivered at the recent international Aegean conference that was held in Melbourne. The paper, which deals with evidence of feasting, and other Indo-European cultural facets in the Philistine culture, while reviewing finds from various Philistine sites, places its main focus on relevant, and for the most part, new finds from Tell es-Safi/Gath.
The full reference is of this paper is:
Maeir, A.M. 2008
Aegean Feasting and Other Indo-European Elements in the Philistine Household. Pp. 347–52 in Dais – the Aegean Feast: Proceedings of the 12th Annual International Aegean Conference, Melbourne 25–29 March, 2008, eds. R. Laffineur and L. Hitchcock. Aegeaum 29. Liege: University of Liege.
Enjoy! (or not…)
Aren
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December 30, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Evening in honor of Prof. Itamar Singer « The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations Official (and Unofficial) Weblog
[...] Very interesting. All told, the evening was a very interesting, and deserving meeting in honor of one the best scholars of ANE history. Prof. Singer has contributed many important studies relating to the Philistines as well, and among other things, was extremely helpful regarding aspects relating to the Indo-European languages and culture relating to the recently published article on the so-called “Goliath inscription” from Tell es-Safi/Gath, recently published in BASOR. [...]
June 24, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Visits and lectures at Gezer and Ashkelon digs « The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations Official (and Unofficial) Weblog
[...] Stager and I argued about the interpretation of the so-called “Goliath inscription” (discussed before on the blog more than once) – but that is already a regular part of the show… During our [...]