About an Earlier Letter, Troop Movements, and a Letter from a Prophet

About a dozen letters written on ostraca were found in the “guard room” of the gate complex of the Judahite city of Lachish, in the Shephelah. They were written during the critical days just before the fall of the kingdom and the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple, and of Lachish itself, by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. The letters were written by Hoshayahu, an officer located somewhere near Lachish, to his superior, Yaush, who was residing in Lachish. The letters were apparently all written within a span of a few days, and five were written on pieces from the same broken clay container. Most concern a particular letter, but it is not clear whether Hoshayahu had read it. One interpretation is that Ho-shayahu was accused of having read a letter intended for someone else’s eyes (an accusation he denied). Another view is that Hoshayahu had misunderstood a letter that was actually directed to him. The letters mention other matters as well, including the journey of an army commander to Egypt, the report of a letter from a prophet, and watching for fire signals from Lachish.