Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judah's military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts

Shira Faigenbaum-Golovin; Arie Shaus; Barak Sober; David Levin; Nadav Na'aman; Benjamin Sass; Eli Turkel; Eli Piasetzky; Israel Finkelstein

doi:10.1073/pnas.1522200113

Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judah's military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts

Shira Faigenbaum-Golovin^*, Arie Shaus, Barak Sober, David Levin, Nadav Na'aman, Benjamin Sass, Eli Turkel, Eli Piasetzky, Israel Finkelstein

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

The relationship between the expansion of literacy in Judah and composition of biblical texts has attracted scholarly attention for over a century. Information on this issue can be deduced from Hebrew inscriptions from the final phase of the first Temple period. We report our investigation of 16 inscriptions from the Judahite desert fortress of Arad, dated ca. 600 BCE the Eve of Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem. The inquiry is based on new methods for image processing and document analysis, as well as machine learning algorithms. These techniques enable identification of the minimal number of authors in a given group of inscriptions. Our algorithmic analysis, complemented by the textual information, rEveals a minimum of six authors within the examined inscriptions. The results indicate that in this remote fort literacy had spread throughout the military hierarchy, down to the quartermaster and probably Even below that rank. This implies that an educational infrastructure that could support the composition of literary texts in Judah already existed before the destruction of the first Temple. A similar lEvel of literacy in this area is attested again only 400 y later, ca. 200 BCE.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4664-4669
Number of pages	6
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	113
Issue number	17
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1522200113
State	Published - 26 Apr 2016
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The research reported here received initial funding from the Israel Science Foundation - F.I.R.S.T. (Bikura) Individual Grant 644/08, as well as Israel Science Foundation Grant 1457/13. The research was also funded by the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007- 2013)/ERC Grant Agreement 229418, and by an Early Israel grant (New Horizons project), Tel Aviv University. This study was also supported by a generous donation from Mr. Jacques Chahine, made through the French Friends of Tel Aviv University.

Keywords

Arad ostraca
Biblical exegesis
Document analysis
Literacy level
Machine learning

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1073/pnas.1522200113

Cite this

Faigenbaum-Golovin, S., Shaus, A., Sober, B., Levin, D., Na'aman, N., Sass, B., Turkel, E., Piasetzky, E., & Finkelstein, I. (2016). Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judah's military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(17), 4664-4669. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1522200113

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abstract = "The relationship between the expansion of literacy in Judah and composition of biblical texts has attracted scholarly attention for over a century. Information on this issue can be deduced from Hebrew inscriptions from the final phase of the first Temple period. We report our investigation of 16 inscriptions from the Judahite desert fortress of Arad, dated ca. 600 BCE the Eve of Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem. The inquiry is based on new methods for image processing and document analysis, as well as machine learning algorithms. These techniques enable identification of the minimal number of authors in a given group of inscriptions. Our algorithmic analysis, complemented by the textual information, rEveals a minimum of six authors within the examined inscriptions. The results indicate that in this remote fort literacy had spread throughout the military hierarchy, down to the quartermaster and probably Even below that rank. This implies that an educational infrastructure that could support the composition of literary texts in Judah already existed before the destruction of the first Temple. A similar lEvel of literacy in this area is attested again only 400 y later, ca. 200 BCE.",

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note = "Funding Information: The research reported here received initial funding from the Israel Science Foundation - F.I.R.S.T. (Bikura) Individual Grant 644/08, as well as Israel Science Foundation Grant 1457/13. The research was also funded by the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007- 2013)/ERC Grant Agreement 229418, and by an Early Israel grant (New Horizons project), Tel Aviv University. This study was also supported by a generous donation from Mr. Jacques Chahine, made through the French Friends of Tel Aviv University.",

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Faigenbaum-Golovin, S, Shaus, A, Sober, B, Levin, D, Na'aman, N, Sass, B, Turkel, E, Piasetzky, E & Finkelstein, I 2016, 'Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judah's military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 113, no. 17, pp. 4664-4669. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1522200113

Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judah's military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts. / Faigenbaum-Golovin, Shira; Shaus, Arie; Sober, Barak et al.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 113, No. 17, 26.04.2016, p. 4664-4669.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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AU - Shaus, Arie

AU - Sober, Barak

AU - Levin, David

AU - Na'aman, Nadav

AU - Sass, Benjamin

AU - Turkel, Eli

AU - Piasetzky, Eli

AU - Finkelstein, Israel

N1 - Funding Information: The research reported here received initial funding from the Israel Science Foundation - F.I.R.S.T. (Bikura) Individual Grant 644/08, as well as Israel Science Foundation Grant 1457/13. The research was also funded by the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007- 2013)/ERC Grant Agreement 229418, and by an Early Israel grant (New Horizons project), Tel Aviv University. This study was also supported by a generous donation from Mr. Jacques Chahine, made through the French Friends of Tel Aviv University.

PY - 2016/4/26

Y1 - 2016/4/26

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Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judah's military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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