The Gezer Tablet

10th Century BCE

His two months, namely, ingathering; his two months, namely, seed (or: sowing); his two months, namely, late sowing; his month, namely, flax-cutting; his month, namely, barley harvest; his month, namely, (wheat) harvest and measuring; his two months, namely vine harvest; his month, namely, summer (fruits) harvest.

Abiya[w]

Translated by
Anson F.
Ra…
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A list of agricultural activities typical of each month or pair of months. Traces of erasure and reuse on the tablet suggest that this inscription may be a student’s writing exercise. It was discovered in debris from the excavation of an Israelite stratum of the northern Israelite site of Gezer, but from the language and writing the text could just as easily be Phoenician as Hebrew. The possibly incomplete name of the owner, or the writer, written sideways on the left margin of the tablet, is reconstructed as Abiyaw on the assumption that he was Israelite, but other reconstructions are possible.

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