RT Article
T1 Lachish "Letter" 2 (BM 125702): A Polite Letter, an Accreditation Pass, or a Text Used to Teach Letter Writing?
JF Bulletin of ASOR
VO 388
SP 91
OP 111
A1 Mandell, Alice
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1880476886
AB Lachish 2 is typically described as an enigmatic letter, one that consists mainly of the protocol language used in letter introductions. However, past studies have wrestled with Lines 5-6 of this letter, and noted the linguistic crux posed by the verb ybkr. The present study argues that while Lachish 2 looks like a letter, it plays a different role than letters are traditionally conceived to do (as written communication media that articulate the words of a sender to a recipient). This text’s form, organization, and focus on formulae, and its lack of clear message suggest that Lachish 2 was used as an instructional tool that outlines a letter’s organization and sample epistolary formulae, serving perhaps as a template. This ostracon offers insight into both the practice of letter writing as seen from the internal perspective of a writer, and into education in the process of letter writing in the later days of the Judean monarchy.
K1 Hebrew Letters
K1 Judah
K1 Lachish
K1 Northwest Semitic inscriptions
K1 scribal education
K1 Scribalism
DO 10.1086/720868