Abram as Literate
23[ . . . ] After these five years 24[ . . . ] three men of the princes of Egyp[t came . . .] from Phara[oh] Zoa[n] on account of [my] words and of my wife. They gave 25[me many presents expecting from me] goodness, wisdom and truth. I read in front of them the [book] of the words of Enoch 26[ . . . ] concerning the famine which [ . . . ] . .…
The flourishing of Jewish literature in the Second Temple period saw biblical figures also being depicted as reading and writing texts. Here, Abram reads from “the book of the words of Enoch,” a reference to the popular Enochic traditions of the period. (For more on Enoch, see especially DEATH AND THE NEXT WORLD and APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE.)
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Found in caves in the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea Scrolls preserve the writings of an ancient Jewish sect.
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