Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine Prinicipal Investigator Michael Satlow Brown University Mare 0075

Maresha, Fifth century BCE to second century BCE. Potsherd. Financial.

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Fifth century BCE to first century BCE Judaea Maresha

Taxonomies for IIP controlled values

Initial Entry Edited adding period attribute to date element, with Periodo value. Rerunning segmentation process with updated workflow

ב

In the year 41 [+.… or b41 +...]

The reading of the bet is uncertain. The letter preceeds three signs: the first two seem to indicate the number '20' each, while the third is the number '1'. This line might be part of the date formula, sometimes found in the first line of such inscriptions. If so, the only possible candidate for this year would be Artaxerxes II, who reigned from 404 to 359/8 BCE: hence the ostrakon would refer to 363 BCE. It is also possible that more units followed the number 41, in which case more years should be added to the regnal year. Another probable explanation is that the bet indicates something else, such as goods or products. In an ostrakon published by Eph'al and Naveh, however, the bet "does not seem to stand for a measure of unit".

ב

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