Robert Deutsch has notified me that another bulla that is about to be published in the second volume on the Kaufman collection (already noted here), may also be connected to the site of Gath.
Robert has been kind enough to write to me that: “there is another fiscal bulla (no. 661) reading: “Belonging to Azar, son of Gitti” (the Gittite)”.
This is the picture of the bulla that Robert has sent me.
UPDATE: Robert has now also kindly supplied a line drawing of the bulla – here it is:
Several questions arise from this:
1) Does “gitti” mean someone from Gath? Or perhaps, could it be a private name of someone not from Gath?
2) Once again, as noted with the two last posts (here and here), this is of interest, but due to the fact that it derives from a collection and its provenance and/or authenticity are not 100% clear, one has to relate to it with caution.
3) But if this is authentic, and it does in fact refer to a “Gittite” (= a person from Gath), that is very interesting.
4) If the latter, we now have to hope to find such objects in the excavation, from a clear context!
Aren
Ekron is to olive oil as Gath is to… public relations? They sure had somebody working hard to get their name out there.
Since these three items are from the antiquities market, if I did not know him well (:-), I would think that perhaps the director of the excavations at Gath is producing them…
:-)
Aren
Everyone needs a hobby! At this rate we’ll be selling tshirts and bullae.
Eric,
I can’t help it, but I must say: “This is a lot of bullae”!
;-)
Aren
Aren,
Is it safe to assume that these bullae didn’t come from your site? In other words, could there be looting going on while you’re not there?
Jordan
Jordan,
Good question! The Persian period ostracon almost for sure comes from Kh. el-Qom. As to the two bullae: while they could come from Tell es-Safi/Gath, there is no current evidence of any substantial looting on the site in general, and in the 8th cent. BCE levels specifically. On the other hand, these objects come from a collection, and if they are authentic and if they are in fact from the site, they might have been looted many years ago.
Aren
Aren and Eric
I will expect to find at Gath the seals which produced the bullae, bullae sent out to other destinations.
As to authenticity, there is not even the slightly possibility that this are fakes. I examined them
under the best available microscope (as I did to almost 1000 bullae published in the last 20
years) and I find them perfectly genuine, beyond any doubt.
As to the looting – this is a sad fact of our life. Yet, one has to to choose between:
a) “The ostrich principle”
Ignoring unprovenanced biblical period epigraphic material as if they are not existing, but in the
same time classifying them as fakes in order to damage their scientific value (an approach
strongly supported by Christopher Rollston)
or
b) “The salvation documentation principle”
Careful and high standard publications of unprovenanced epigraphic materials before they are
lost (which is Frank Moore Cross, Andre Lemaire, Nahman Avigad, Benjamin Sass, Joseph
Naveh, Ada Yardeni and my approach).
Robert,
I certainly hope that you are right and that: a) these are authentic; b) that we will find the parallels to this from the excavation (and hopefuly in large quantities…).
Aren