Tel Qasile ostraca
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The Tel Qasile ostraca are two small ostraca (pottery fragments with writing on them) found at Tell Qasile, then part of Mandatory Palestine, in 1945–46. The longer of the two ostraca is known as the Beth-horon sherd, on the basis of a possible reference to the biblical site of Bethoron. The Beth-horon sherd is now at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.[1]
The two inscribed ostraca were found on the surface of the southwestern slope of the hill, separately by Jacob Kaplan and Robert Hoff, prior to any excavations. The excavations which subsequently took place between 1948 and 1950 on the same site were carried out in a careful stratigraphic sequence, but no further inscriptions were found.[2]
Inscriptions
The ostraca read:[3]
- Hiyahu ostracon: "For the king. One thousand and one hundred [log] of oil. Hiyahu" (about 550 litres, or 145 US gallons)
- Beth-horon sherd: "Gold of Ophir to Beth Horon 30 Shekels" (about 225 g, or 7.2 troy oz)
