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ArticleArticle TheThe Importance Importance ofof thethe WadiWadi DaliyehDaliyeh Manuscripts Manuscripts for thefor Historythe History of of Samaria and and the the Samaritans Jan Dušek Jan Dušek Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague 115 55, Czech Republic; [email protected] Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague 115 55, Czech Republic; [email protected]   Received:Received: 16 16 December December 2019; 2019; Accepted:Accepted: 20 January 2020; 2020; Published: Published: 29 29 January January 2020 2020

Abstract:Abstract:In In this this article, article, wewe dealdeal withwith the topic of of the the Samaria Samaria papyri papyri from from Wadi Wadi Daliyeh Daliyeh in inthree three mainmain parts parts implied implied by by the the .title. First, we briefly briefly summarize summarize the the basic basic data data re relatedlated to tothe the manuscripts. manuscripts. Second,Second, we we analyze analyze their their significance significance forfor the history of of Samaria. Samaria. Third, Third, the the last last section section is isdevoted devoted to to thethe meaning meaning of of the the papyri papyri for for thethe historyhistory ofof the Samaritans.

Keywords:Keywords:Wadi Wadi Daliyeh; Daliyeh;Samaria; Samaria; PersianPersian period; Samaritans

1.1. Discovery Discovery of of the the Samaria Samaria PapyriPapyri inin Wadi Daliyeh, Their Their Date Date and and Content Content TheThe Samaria Samaria papyri papyri werewere foundfound by the Ta ʿâmirehâmireh Bedouins in in the the Mughâret Mughâret Ab Abū uShinjeh¯ Shinjeh cave cave inin Wadi Wadi Daliyeh, Daliyeh, approximately approximately 1414 kmkm northnorth ofof , in in or or before before 1962. 1962. The The exact exact date date of oftheir their discoverydiscovery is is unknown. unknown. ScholarsScholars inin , Yusef Yusef Saad, Saad, the the curator curator of of the the Palestine Archaeological Archaeological Museum,Museum, Roland Roland de de Vaux Vaux from from the theÉ coleÉcole Biblique Biblique et et arch archéologiqueéologique française française in inJerusalem, Jerusalem, andand PaulPaul W. Lapp,W. Lapp, at that at time that directortime director of the of American the American School School of Oriental of Oriental Research Research in Jerusalem in Jerusalem (W. F. Albright(W. F. InstituteAlbright of Institute Oriental of Research), Oriental Research), were informed were in offormed their existence of their existence by the famous by the dealer famous in dealer antiquities in Khalilantiquities Iskander Khalil Shahin, Iskander known Shahin, under known the under Kando, the name in April Kando, 1962. in April A set 1962. of objects—manuscripts, A set of objects— bullae,manuscripts, and coins—coming bullae, and coins—coming from the Bedouins’ from the excavations Bedouins’ in excavations the Wadi Daliyeh in the Wadi cave ofDaliyeh Mugh caveâret Abof u¯ ShinjehMughâret were Ab subsequentlyū Shinjeh were purchased subsequently for the purchased Palestine Archaeological for the Palestine Museum Archaeological in Jerusalem Museum (today in the Jerusalem (today the ) on 19 November 1962 and 7 August 1963. The Rockefeller Museum) on 19 November 1962 and 7 August 1963. The manuscripts were edited twice. manuscripts were edited twice. The first edition was prepared by Douglas M. Gropp (Gropp et al. The first edition was prepared by Douglas M. Gropp (Gropp et al. 2001) and the second by the author of 2001) and the second by the author of this article (Dušek 2007). A few other inscribed fragments were this article (Dušek 2007). A few other inscribed fragments were later purchased for the private collection later purchased for the private collection of Martin Schøyen. The script on the new papyri fragments of Martin Schøyen. The script on the new papyri fragments is the same as that used in the main corpus. is the same as that used in the main corpus. Some of the fragments seem to contain parts of proper Some of the fragments seem to contain parts of proper and other words attested in the main names and other words attested in the main corpus of the Samaria papyri, so it is possible that the corpus of the Samaria papyri, so it is possible that the fragments from the Schøyen collection originally fragments from the Schøyen collection originally belonged to this set of papyri (Dušek 2016). belongedThe to legal this documents, set of papyri today (Dušek known 2016 as). the Wadi Daliyeh Samaria Papyri (WDSP), were probably depositedThe legal in the documents, Mughâret today Abū Shinjeh known cave as the in Wadi Wadi Daliyeh Daliyeh Samariain the context Papyri of (WDSP),the events were in Samaria probably depositedduring and in theafter Mugh the âcampaignret Abu¯ Shinjeh of Alexander cave in the Wadi Great Daliyeh in in the in context332/31 ofBCE. the Alexander, events in Samaria after duringhaving and conquered after the the campaign city of Tyre of Alexander in July 332 the BC GreatE and inappointed Egypt in Andromachus 332/31 BCE. Alexander, as governor after of , having conqueredcontinued the southward city of Tyre to in Egypt. July 332 During BCE andhis appointedstay in Egypt, Andromachus the inhabitants as governor of the ofcity Syria, of Samaria continued southwardrevolted against to Egypt. Andromachus During his and stay burned in Egypt, him the alive. inhabitants When Alexander of the city received of Samaria this revolted bad news, against he Andromachusreturned to Samaria and burned and punished him alive. the When rebels Alexander (Quintus Curtius, received Historiae this bad IV, news, VIII, he 9–11). returned The owner to Samaria or andowners punished of the the Samaria rebels papyri (Quintus were Curtius, probablyHistoriae amongIV, the VIII, people 9–11). from The the owner city of or Samaria owners who of the tried Samaria to papyriescape were from probably Alexander’s among army, the and people who, from with the only city their of Samariamost valuable who tried and transportable to escape from belongings, Alexander’s army,wanted and to who, hide with in the only Mughâret their most Ab valuableū Shinjeh and cave transportable in Wadi Daliyeh. belongings,1 Nevertheless, wanted to they hide were in the Mughprobablyâret Ab foundu¯ Shinjeh by Alexander’s cave in Wadi army Daliyeh. and they1 Nevertheless, may have been they suffocated were probably by a fire found lit by by Alexander’s Alexander’s armysoldiers and at they the may entrance have of been the suffocatedcave (Cross by 1974, a fire pp. lit 17 by– Alexander’s18). soldiers at the entrance of the cave (Cross 1974 , pp. 17–18). 1 See the list of the finds from the Persian period in Mughâret Abū Shinjeh in Lapp and Lapp (1974, pp. 13–14).

Religions 2020, 11, 63; doi:10.3390/rel11020063 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions 1 See the list of the finds from the Persian period in Mughâret Abu¯ Shinjeh in Lapp and Lapp(1974, pp. 13–14). Religions 2020, 11, 63; doi:10.3390/rel11020063 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Religions 2020, 11, 63 2 of 12 in the (שמריN בירתא! קריתא!) The Samaria papyri were written in the city or the fortress of Samaria \ most of them during the second third of the 4th century BCE, in the ,(שמריN מדינתא!) province of Samaria last decades of the Persian period before Alexander’s conquest of Palestine (Dušek 2007, pp. 441–45). The oldest document that can be explicitly dated, WDSP 22, was probably written between 375 and 365 BCE. The latest document containing a dating formula, WDSP 1, was concluded on 19 March 335 BCE (= the 20th of Adar, year 2 (of Arses/Artaxerxes IV), beginning of the reign of Darius III).2 Another fragment, WDSP 36 frg. 1, perhaps originally belonged to a document that could even have been written after WDSP 1, between 335 and 332 BCE (Dušek 2007, p. 423). None of the documents are preserved in entirety. The best-preserved deed, WDSP 1, seems to represent approximately only half of the original document. Most of the Samaria papyri are deeds of sale of slaves, single male or female slaves, or groups of slaves.3 Some documents concern other transactions regarding slaves,4 a loan (WDSP 17), a lawsuit (WDSP 11 verso), and other types of contracts. Only papyrus strips remain of some of the documents. WDSP 28—WDSP 37 consist of groups of papyrus fragments. Bullae, some of them still attached to the manuscripts, were discovered along with the Samaria papyri. The bullae purchased for the Palestine Archaeological Museum were published by Mary Joan Winn Leith (Leith 1997). In 1992, the original corpus of the Wadi Daliyeh bullae of the Palestine Archaeological Museum was enlarged by the publication of approximately forty additional bullae, purchased by R. Hecht and published by Ephraim Stern (Stern 1992, 2002).5 Most of the bullae from Wadi Daliyeh bear depictions of various Persian/Near Eastern or Greek motifs such as nude youths and warriors, male and female figures, Dionysian subjects, animals (single or flanking), the Persian Hero, and others.6 Similar motifs were also used on some of the Samarian coins minted during the 4th century BCE (Leith 1997, pp. 29–30; 2000). The motifs depicted on the Samarian bullae and coins are different from those used in during the Persian period. The Samarian imagery from the Persian period reflects the history and the culture of the , which was different from that of Judah,7 and indicates the existence of cultural continuity between the and the Persian province of Samaria (Leith 2014).

2. The Wadi Daliyeh Manuscripts and Samaria in the Late Persian Period The Samaria papyri from Wadi Daliyeh provide us with precious information regarding some of the inhabitants of Samaria, including some of its officials. The deeds also contain information on length and weighing measures used in the province during the 4th century BCE, before Alexander.

2.1. The Proper Names in the Wadi Daliyeh Manuscripts The proper names attested in the Samaria papyri and on the bullae may provide us with some information on the population of Samaria in the 4th century BCE, but cannot be used as a representative of the whole Samarian society and its various strata.8 The persons named in the documents have

2 On the double dating formula, see (Cross 1985, p. 10*; Dušek 2007, pp. 118–19). 3 WDSP 1–9, WDSP 18, WDSP 19? WDSP 22?, WDSP 26. 4 WDSP 10, WDSP 12?, WDSP 27. 5 The collection is divided between the Hecht Museum in and the in Jerusalem. Photographs of four of the bullae in the Hecht collection and another one in a private collection were published by Meshorer and Qedar(1991, pp. 12, 36, and 81). Photographs of twenty-eight bullae from the Hecht collection were published by Leith(1997), Plates XXIII and XXIV. 6 Concerning the of the Wadi Daliyeh bullae and their iconographical contexts, see (Leith 1997, pp. 20–32; Schroer and Lippke 2014). 7 For a comparison of the motifs used in Samaria and Judah in the Persian period, see (Wyssmann 2014). 8 Thus, Zsengellér(1996), who included in his analysis only the proper names contained in nine of the Samaria papyri, tried to distinguish on that basis three different strata of the Samarian society: the low class, the middle class, and the political elite. Because the names cannot be used as representative of the whole Samarian society, it makes no sense to indicate here the percentage for various groups of names with a theophoric element (e.g., Yahwistic, Idumaean, Persian). Religions 2020, 11, 63 3 of 12

specific roles related to concrete commercial transactions in the concrete contexts of their conclusion. Moreover, as stated above, none of the manuscripts is preserved in its entirety; some of them are very fragmentary, and so the roles of some persons mentioned in the fragments cannot be ascertained. It is also very difficult to draw any conclusion regarding the cults existing in Samaria on the basis of the proper names attested in the documents. Some persons mentioned in the papyri probably did not live in Samaria. Moreover, the presence of a theophoric element in a proper name does not allow us to determine the religion of the person’s . None of the persons attested in the documents bears a Religions 2020, 11, 63 3 of 13 proper name and a containing the same theophoric element. There are cases when one of documents have specific rolesthe related two names to concrete contains commercial a transactions theophoric in the element concrete contexts and the of other does not. There are also cases when the their conclusion. Moreover, as stated above, none of the manuscripts is preserved in its entirety; some 9 of them are very fragmentary,name and of so thethe roles son of contains some persons a theophoric mentioned in the element fragments di cannotfferent from that which is in the name of his father. be ascertained. In the manuscripts from the Persian period and the bullae associated with the finds in Wadi It is also very difficult to draw any conclusion regarding the cults existing in Samaria on the 10 11 basis of the proper names Daliyeh,attested in the we document discerns. Some several persons categories mentioned in of the proper papyri probably names: Yahwistic names with the elements yhw-, did not live in Samaria. Moreover,-yh,12 and the -presenceyhw;13 ofproper a theophoric names element with in a the proper common name does Semitic not elements El and Ab;14 Aramaean names with allow us to determine thethe religion theophoric of the person’s elements family. Sahar, None of Šamaš, the persons and attested others in15 the; Babylonian, Assyrian, or West Semitic names;16 documents bears a proper name and a patronymic containing the same theophoric element. There 17 18 19 are cases when one of the Phoenician;two names contains aPersian; theophoric elementand and Idumaean the other does names not. There (with are the theophoric element “Qos”); a possible Article also cases when the name fragmentof the son contains of an a theophoric Egyptian element name different (Pwt from[), that and which some is in Norththe names20. There is also a group of name of his father.9 21 22 TheIn the manuscripts Importance fromhypocoristic the Persian periodof names, theand withthe bullaeWadi no theophoricassociated Daliyeh with element,the finds in WadiManuscriptsproper names whose interpretation is uncertain, Daliyeh, we discern severaland categories probably of proper also names: one10 gentilic Yahwistic names name with (Krty the [“Cretan”).elements yhw-,11 -yhfor,12 and -theyhw;13 proper History names Thewith the number of common Samariaof Semitic persons elements acting andEl andin Ab; thethe14 Aramaean role Samaritans of names buyers in the documents is quite limited, and their with the theophoric elements Sahar, Šamaš, and others15; Babylonian, Assyrian, or West Semitic names;16 Phoenician;17 Persian;names18 and are Idumaean Yahwistic names or (with West the Semitic theophoric with element no theophoric“Qos”);19 a elements; one name is , and another, possibleJan Dušek fragment of an EgyptianWest Semiticname (Pwt with[), and thesome element North Arabic “Ab,” names belonged20. There is also to aa group woman. 23 The buyers were probably inhabitants of of hypocoristic names, with no theophoric element, 21 proper names whose interpretation is uncertain,Protestant22 and Theologicalprobablythe also province oneFaculty, gentilic Charles name of Samaria, (Krty University[“Cretan”). perhaps, Prague even 115 of 55, the Czech city Republic; of Samaria. [email protected] Some proper names of the buyers appear The number of personsin acting more in thanthe role one of buye deed.rs in the On documents this basis, is quite we limited, were and able their to distinguish three chronologically successive Received: 16 December 2019; Accepted: 20 January 2020; Published: 29 January 2020 names are Yahwistic or Westarchives Semitic with in theno theophoric corpus elements; (Dušek on 2007e name, pp.is Aramaic, 454–66): and another, West Semitic with the element “Ab,” belonged to a woman.23 The buyers were probably inhabitants of theAbstract: province of In Samaria, this article, perhaps weeven deal of the with city of theSamaria. topic Some of propthe erSamaria names of papyrithe buyers from Wadi Daliyeh in three appear in more than one deed.the On archivethis basis, ofwe Yehopada(y)ni,were able to distinguish probably three chronologically constituted before the mid-4th century BCE; main parts implied• by the title. First, we briefly summarize the basic data related to the manuscripts. successive archives in the corpusthe (Dušek archive 2007, pp. of 454–66): Netira ʾ , son of Yehopada(y)ni, containing documents probably written around the Second, we analyze• their significance for. the history of Samaria. Third, the last section is devoted to • the archive of Yehopada(y)ni,mid-4th probably centuryconstitutedBCE; before the mid-4th century BCE; the meaning of the papyri for the history of the Samaritans.

9 TheKeywords seller of the: slaveWadi in WDSP Daliyeh; 1 has a Samaria;Yahwistic proper Persian name, andperiod; his patr Samaritansonymic contains the element “El.” In the inscription of the governor of Samaria on bulla WD 22, the name of the owner of the seal is 9 Yahwistic, whereas the nameThe of his seller father ofis probab the slavely Babylonian in WDSP and 1 might has ahave Yahwistic containedproper the element name, and his patronymic contains the element “El.” In the “Sin.” inscription of the governor of Samaria on bulla WD 22, the name of the owner of the seal is Yahwistic, whereas the name of 10 Our analysis is based on our ownhis edition father of is the probably manuscripts Babylonian in Dušek (2007, and pp. might 486–89). have For contained the occurrence the element “Sin.” of the names in concrete 10manuscripts,Our analysis see our isindex based in Dušek on our (2007, own pp.edition 616–17). ofA s thelightly manuscripts different list and in Dušek (2007, pp. 486–89). For the occurrence of the names in 1.interpretation Discovery of personal of the names Samariaconcrete in the Samaria manuscripts,Papyri papyri in was Wadi see published our Daliyeh, index by Frank in DušekMooreTheir Cross(2007 Date (2006)., pp. and 616–17). Content A slightly di fferent list and interpretation of personal 11 Yhwntn, Yhwnwr, Yhwn[, Yhwydnamesʿ, inYhwydn the Samaria, Yhwzkr papyri, Yhwbnh was, Yhw publishedʾb, Yhwšp byṭ, [ FrankY]hwšbh Moore, Yhwr ʿCrossy, (2006). Yhwpdny/Yhwpdyny, Yhwʿqb, Yhwʿnny, Yhwʿzr, Yhwslh. The Samaria 11papyriYhwntn were, Yhwnwr found, Yhwn by [,theYhwyd Taʿâmireh, Yhwydn ,BedouinsYhwzkr, Yhwbnh in the, Yhw Mughâretb, Yhwšpt ,[AbY]ūhwšbh Shinjeh, Yhwr cavey, Yhwpdny /Yhwpdyny, Yhw qb, 12 Among these names, we mention as examples Nḥmyh, Ḥnnyh, Dlyh, Ptḥyh, ʿqbyh, and ʿnnyh. . 13 Only one proper name is entirelyYhw preserved:nny, Yhw Mkyhwzr, .Yhwslh . in Wadi Daliyeh,12 approximately 14 km north of Jericho, in or before 1962. The exact date of their 14 For example, Yšmʾl (three bullaeAmong belonging these to names,a privatewe collection mention and asassociated examples withNh Wadi. myh Daliyeh;, H. nnyh see, Dlyh , Pth. yh, qbyh, and nnyh. discovery is unknown.13 Scholars in Jerusalem, Yusef Saad, the curator of the Palestine Archaeological (Stern 1992, plates I, 1, and III,Only 1.2; Meshorer one proper and Qedar name 1991, is entirelypp. 11–12)), preserved: Dlhʾl, ʾbyʿdnMkyhw, ʾbšlm. . 15 Museum, For example, ŠhrRoland, Šhrntn, 14 deBrykšmš ForVaux, example,ʿzrʾ , fromʿqybʾ, n Yšmṭtheyrʾ‚ etc. lÉcole(three Biblique bullae belonging et archéologique to a private collection française and in associated Jerusalem, with Wadiand Daliyeh;Paul see (Stern 1992, plates I, 16 For example, Snʾblṭ, Nbwʾḥdn, Šlmn. W. Lapp, at that time1, anddirector III, 1.2; Meshorerof the American and Qedar 1991School, pp. of 11–12)), OrientalDlh l , Researchby dn, bšlm in. Jerusalem (W. F. 17 Yšdbʿl, [B]ʿlytwn, ʾsytwn. 15 18 Albright Apart from theInstitute names of ofthe ForPersianOriental example, kings Research),(ArtaxerxeŠhr, Šhrntns, Darius), ,wereBrykšmš the in Persian,formedzr , naqybmes of, include,nt .theiryr ‚ etc.for existence example, by the famous dealer in 16 antiquitiesWhdt/Whwdt, Bgbrt Khalil, and some IskanderFor names example, not Shahin, preservedSn blt inknown. ,theirNbw entirety.h. dnunder, Šlmn th. e name Kando, in April 1962. A set of objects— 19 Qwsdkr, Qwsnhr. 17 Yšdb l,[B] lytwn, sytwn. 20 ʾ ḥ Ḥ ʿ ʾ manuscripts, bl y, Bsn, lpn, mwldw… bullae,18, Rby andApartlhy. coins—coming from the names of from the Persian the Bed kingsouins’ (Artaxerxes, excavations Darius), in the the Persian Wadi names Daliyeh include, cave for of example, Whdt/Whwdt, Bgbrt, 21 ʾtr, ʾry, Ḥny, Ḥnn, Ydʿ, Yqym, Yš[w]ʿ (bulla WD 23), [N]ḥwm, Ntn, ʿnny, Škwy, Šlwm, ]šlwmy, ]šlm, Ttn, Lnry, Mughâret Abū Shinjehand were some namessubsequently not preserved purchased in their entirety. for the Palestine Archaeological Museum in and ʾb(/d)n (bulla WD 54). 19 22 Jerusalem E.g., Mspnq… , Mnd(today[, ]lnh, PtlmntheQwsdkr[, andRockefeller others., Qwsnhr . Museum) on 19 November 1962 and 7 August 1963. The 20 23 Yhwnwr son of Lnry (WDSP 1,blh WDSP. y, Bsn 4, ,WDSPH. lpn ,14,mwldw WDSP ...20); ,ʾbyRbyʿdn lhy(WDSP. 2—the name of a woman); manuscriptsʾ were21 edited twice. The first edition was preparedʾ by Douglas M. Gropp (Gropp et al. Yhwpdyny and ry son of Dlyh (WDSPtr, ry ,3);H. Yhwpdynyny, H. nn, (WDSPYd , Yqym 9 and, YšWDSP[w] 11r);(bulla Nṭyr WD son23), of Yhwpdny [N]h. wm (WDSP, Ntn , nny, Škwy, Šlwm,]šlwmy,]šlm, Ttn, Lnry, and b(/d)n (bulla 2001)5, WDSP and 8, WDSP the 9,second WDSP 18?);WD by Ybn the 54).[ (WDSP author 15). of this article (Dušek 2007). A few other inscribed fragments were later purchased for22 theE.g., privateMspnq ...collection, Mnd[, ]lnh of, MartinPtlmn[, and Schøyen. others. The script on the new papyri fragments is the same as that23 usedYhwnwr in theson main of Lnry corpus.(WDSP 1,Some WDSP of 4, the WDSP fragments 14, WDSP seem 20); by todn contain(WDSP 2—theparts nameof proper of a woman); Yhwpdyny and ry names and other wordsson ofattestedDlyh (WDSP in the 3); Yhwpdynymain corpus(WDSP of 9the and Samaria WDSP 11r); papyri,N.tyr son so ofitYhwpdny is possible(WDSP that 5, WDSPthe 8, WDSP 9, WDSP 18?); Ybn[ (WDSP 15). fragments from the Schøyen collection originally belonged to this set of papyri (Dušek 2016). The legal documents, today known as the Wadi Daliyeh Samaria Papyri (WDSP), were probably deposited in the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh in the context of the events in Samaria during and after the campaign of in Egypt in 332/31 BCE. Alexander, after having conquered the city of Tyre in July 332 BCE and appointed Andromachus as governor of Syria, continued southward to Egypt. During his stay in Egypt, the inhabitants of the city of Samaria revolted against Andromachus and burned him alive. When Alexander received this bad news, he returned to Samaria and punished the rebels (Quintus Curtius, Historiae IV, VIII, 9–11). The owner or owners of the Samaria papyri were probably among the people from the city of Samaria who tried to escape from Alexander’s army, and who, with only their most valuable and transportable belongings, wanted to hide in the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh. 1 Nevertheless, they were probably found by Alexander’s army and they may have been suffocated by a fire lit by Alexander’s soldiers at the entrance of the cave (Cross 1974, pp. 17–18).

1 See the list of the finds from the Persian period in Mughâret Abū Shinjeh in Lapp and Lapp (1974, pp. 13–14).

Religions 2020, 11, 63; doi:10.3390/rel11020063 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Religions 2020, 11, 63 3 of 13

documents have specific roles related to concrete commercial transactions in the concrete contexts of their conclusion. Moreover, as stated above, none of the manuscripts is preserved in its entirety; some of them are very fragmentary, and so the roles of some persons mentioned in the fragments cannot be ascertained. It is also very difficult to draw any conclusion regarding the cults existing in Samaria on the basis of the proper names attested in the documents. Some persons mentioned in the papyri probably did not live in Samaria. Moreover, the presence of a theophoric element in a proper name does not allow us to determine the religion of the person’s family. None of the persons attested in the documents bears a proper name and a patronymic containing the same theophoric element. There are cases when one of the two names contains a theophoric element and the other does not. There are also cases when the name of the son contains a theophoric element different from that which is in the name of his father.9 In the manuscripts from the Persian period and the bullae associated with the finds in Wadi Daliyeh, we discern several categories of proper names:10 Yahwistic names with the elements yhw-,11 -yh,12 and -yhw;13 proper names with the common Semitic elements El and Ab;14 Aramaean names with the theophoric elements Sahar, Šamaš, and others15; Babylonian, Assyrian, or West Semitic names;16 Phoenician;17 Persian;18 and Idumaean names (with the theophoric element “Qos”);19 a possible fragment of an Egyptian name (Pwt[), and some North Arabic names20. There is also a group Religions 2020, 11, 63 of hypocoristic names, with no theophoric element, 21 proper names whose interpretation4 ofis 12 uncertain,22 and probably also one gentilic name (Krty[“Cretan”). The number of persons acting in the role of buyers in the documents is quite limited, and their names are Yahwistic or West Semitic with no theophoric elements; one name is Aramaic, and another, the archive of Yehonur, son of Laneri, which includes deeds written at the end of the Persian • West Semitic with the element “Ab,” belonged to a woman.23 The buyers were probably inhabitants period, before 332 BCE.of the province of Samaria, perhaps even of the city of Samaria. Some proper names of the buyers appear in more than one deed. On this basis, we were able to distinguish three chronologically The first two archives,successive that of archives Yehodapda(y)ni in the corpus (Dušek and his2007,son pp. 454–66): Net.ira ʾ , belonged to the same family, the father and his son after him.• the Itarchive is not of Yehopada(y)ni, clear whether probably Yehonur, constituted the before owner the mid-4th of the century most recentBCE; archive, also belonged to the same family or not; the documents are not explicit in this regard. But it is possible that the three archives actually9 The belongedseller of the slave to threein WDSP generations 1 has a Yahwistic ofproper the name, same andfamily, his patronymic and contains the documents the element “El.” In the inscription of the governor of Samaria on bulla WD 22, the name of the owner of the seal is could have been carried and depositedYahwistic, whereas in the the name Manuscript of his father Areais probab ofly theBabylonian Mugh andâ retmight Ab haveu¯ Shinjehcontained the cave element by a single person, its last owner. “Sin.” Article 10 Our analysis is based on our own edition of the manuscripts in Dušek (2007, pp. 486–89). For the occurrence The proper names of theof the persons names in concrete acting manuscripts, in thedocuments see our index in Dušek in the (2007, role pp. 616–17). of vendors A slightly different (of slaves list and or realThe estate) Importance seem to reflect a culturalinterpretation of the horizon of personal Wadi largernames in theDaliyeh than Samaria that papyri of was the Manuscriptspublished province by Frank of Moore Samaria. Cross (2006). They bear 11 Yhwntn, Yhwnwr, Yhwn[, Yhwydʿ, Yhwydn, Yhwzkr, Yhwbnh, Yhwʾb, Yhwšpṭ, [Y]hwšbh, Yhwrʿy, West Semitic, Yahwistic, IdumaeanYhwpdny/ (withYhwpdyny the, Yhw elementʿqb, Yhwʿnny “Q, Yhwôʿs”),zr, Yhwslh and. possibly even Persian and Egyptian names.for the24 The History vendors of real12 of Among estate Samaria these (WDSP names, we 14,mention and WDSP as examples 15)the N mayḥmyh Samaritans, Ḥ havennyh, Dlyh been, Ptḥyh inhabitants, ʿqbyh, and ʿnnyh.of the city of 13 Only one proper name is entirely preserved: Mkyhw. Samaria, but at least some14of For the example, vendors Yšmʾl (three of slaves bullae belonging may haveto a private lived collection elsewhere and associated than with in Wadi the Daliyeh; province see ofJan Samaria. Dušek (Stern 1992, plates I, 1, and III, 1.2; Meshorer and Qedar 1991, pp. 11–12)), Dlhʾl, ʾbyʿdn, ʾbšlm. 15 For example, Šhr, Šhrntn, Brykšmš, ʿzrʾ, ʿqybʾ, nṭyrʾ‚ etc. ProtestantMost of Theological the proper Faculty, names16 ForCharles example, of the University Sn slavesʾblṭ, Nbw soldʾḥ, dnPrague, Šlmn in. the 115transactions 55, Czech Republic; recorded [email protected] in the Samaria papyri 25 17 Yšdbʿl, [B]ʿlytwn, ʾsytwn. areReceived: Yahwistic, 16 Decemberand they 2019; may18 Accepted: Apart have from originated 20the Januarynames of the2020; in Persian Samaria Published: kings (Artaxerxe or 29 Judah. Januarys, Darius), Other 2020 the Persian slaves names bear include, North for example, Arabic, Idumaean, and Persian names,Whdt26/Whwdtand, Bgbrt may, and have some names originated not preserved in in other their entirety. , not in Samaria. Some 19 Qwsdkr, Qwsnhr. 27 slavesAbstract: had WestIn this Semitic article, names we20 ʾdealblḥy without, Bsn with, Ḥlpn ,the ʿmwldw… theophoric topic, Rby ofʾlhy. the elements. Samaria papyri from Wadi Daliyeh in three mainThe parts names implied of many by the witnesses 21title. ʾtr, ʾFirst,ry, Ḥ whony, weḤnn were, brieflyYdʿ, Yqym present summarize, Yš[w]ʿ (bulla during WD the 23), the basic [N conclusion]ḥwm data, Ntn, ʿrennylated, ofŠkwy the, toŠlwm the contract, ]šlwmy manuscripts., ]šlm are, Ttn written, Lnry , and ʾb(/d)n (bulla WD 54). inSecond, the deeds we with analyze or without their significance22 theirE.g., Mspnq… , , forMnd [,the ]lnh history, Ptlmn and[, and oftenof others. Samaria. with no Third, official the .last section Most ofis devoted the witnesses to bearthe Yahwisticmeaning of names, the papyri but also23 for Yhwnwr the names historyson of with Lnry of (WDSP the the element Samaritans.1, WDSP 4, “El,”WDSP 14, West WDSP Semitic 20); ʾbyʿdn names (WDSP 2—the with name no of theophoric a woman); Yhwpdyny and ʾry son of Dlyh (WDSP 3); Yhwpdyny (WDSP 9 and WDSP 11r); Nṭyrʾ son of Yhwpdny (WDSP 28 element, and Aramaic and Arabic5, WDSP names 8, WDSP as 9, well.WDSP 18?);We Ybn[ may(WDSP suppose 15). that these witnesses were probably peopleKeywords living: Wadi in Samaria, Daliyeh; either Samaria; for a Persian short or period; a long Samaritans period. Some of the witnesses were officials belonging to the administration of the Persian province of Samaria. The names of three types of officials appear among the witnesses: governor, judge, and prefect. The officials mentioned among the witnesses in the contracts are identified by their proper 1. Discovery of the Samaria Papyri in Wadi Daliyeh, Their Date and Content name and their official title, never with a patronymic (this rule was apparently not valid for seals, is ,([ח! ע!cave ]נניה Shinjehפחת Abū שמריsee WDThe 22 Samaria below). papyri The name were offoundHananyah by the orTaʿâmirehAnanyah, Bedouins governor in the of SamariaMughâret (!N . \ attestedin Wadi amongDaliyeh, the approximately witnesses in WDSP14 km north 7,17. Theof Jericho, document in or is before dated 1962. to Adar The 5, exact year date 4 of Artaxerxesof their (probablydiscovery III),is unknown. i.e., 4 March Scholars 354 BCE.in Jerusalem, Another Yusef governor, Saad, probably the curator Delayah of the Palestine son of Sin Archaeologicaluballit., attached [ לדל!]Paulיהו בand!N [סבא!] בלט ,in Jerusalem פחת!) hisMuseum, bulla (WD Roland 22) de bearing Vaux from a Hebrew the École inscription Biblique withet archéologique his name and française title \ Lapp,)29 to at papyrus that time WDSP director 16, whichof the canAmerican be dated School approximately of Oriental to Research the time ofin ArtaxerxesJerusalem (W. III, inF. the שמר![W.!N] Albright Institute of Oriental Research), were informed of their existence by the famous dealer in first third of the 4th century BCE (Dušek 2007, p. 316). Sin uballit., the father of the governor, was probablyantiquities Sanballat Khalil Iskander the Horonite, Shahin, attested known byunder the th booke name of Kando, in30 Apriland 1962. in an A Aramaic set of objects— letter from manuscripts, bullae, and coins—coming31 from the Bedouins’ excavations in the Wadi Daliyeh cave of Elephantine, dated to 407 BCE. Delayah, son of Sin uballit., is attested in the same Aramaic letter fromMughâret Elephantine Abū Shinjeh from 407were BCE, subsequently in its copy, purchased and also in for a memorandumthe Palestine Archaeological sent by Bagavahya, Museum governor in Jerusalem (today the Rockefeller Museum) on 19 November 1962 and 7 August 1963. The manuscripts were edited twice. The first edition was prepared by Douglas M. Gropp (Gropp et al. 2001) and the second by the author of this article (Dušek 2007). A few other inscribed fragments were 24 laterH. nnyh purchasedson of Byd forl (WDSPthe private 1); Qwsnhr collection(WDSP of 2); MartinYqym (WDSP Schøyen. 3); Dlh Thel and scriptH. ny on(WDSP the new 5); ]hwbg papyri[? (a possiblefragments Persian name?, WDSP 7); H. nn (WDSP 8); ]lwny (WDSP 14); Yd (WDSP 15); pwt[ (a possible Egyptian name?, WDSP 19); Yqym and is theH. nn same? (WDSP as 22).that used in the main corpus. Some of the fragments seem to contain parts of proper 25 namesYhwh. nnandson other of Š lh words(WDSP attested 1); Yhw nny in sonthe ofmainzr (WDSP corpus 3); ofNh .themyh Samaria(WDSP 4); papyri,nnyh [son so of it X], is [Ypossible son of Y] hwšbhthat the(WDSP fragments5); H. nnyh ?from (WDSP the 7); SchøyenMkyhw (WDSP collection 8); Yhw originallyqb (WDSP belonged 12); [X son oftoYd this] yh set(?) of (WDSP papyri 19). (Dušek 2016). 26 blh. y (WDSP 6); Qwsdkr (WDSP 9); Bgbrt (WDSP 10). 27 NtnThe? (WDSP legal 7);documents,Zbdh, son of today [X] (WDSP known 19). as the Wadi Daliyeh Samaria Papyri (WDSP), were probably 28 depositedYhw zr son in oftheBsn Mughâret, [X] son of YqymAbū (WDSPShinjeh 2); cave ] l son in of WadiŠkwy ,]Daliyehdwmn, sons in th ofeDlyh context, .tr, [son of the of] eventsnny, Šlwmy in Samariason of Šhrntn during(WDSP and 3); qbyhafter[son the of campaign X], [X son of of... Alexander]lyh (WDSP 5); theSyw Great/t[ (WDSP in 7);Egypt [Yqy?] inm son332/31 of Ttn BCE., his father Alexander, – (that) of afterH. nn,] šlm havingson of conqueredLnry (WDSP the 8); Yhwšpcity of.t[, TyreŠm[ (WDSPin July 9); 332 [X BC sonE of and ]šlyh appointed(WDSP 10); AndromachusQwd/rn,]w son ofas Sngovernorbl.t (WDSP of 11r);Syria,P ... [ (WDSP 15); [X] son of Km[ (WDSP 18). 29continuedSee (Dušek southward 2007, pp. 321–31). to Egypt. During his stay in Egypt, the inhabitants of the city of Samaria 30revoltedNeh 2:10, against 19; 3:33; Andromachus 4:1; 6:1, 2, 5, 12, 14; and 13:28. burned him alive. When Alexander received this bad news, he 31returnedTAD A4.7, to 29.Samaria and punished the rebels (Quintus Curtius, Historiae IV, VIII, 9–11). The owner or owners of the Samaria papyri were probably among the people from the city of Samaria who tried to escape from Alexander’s army, and who, with only their most valuable and transportable belongings, wanted to hide in the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh. 1 Nevertheless, they were probably found by Alexander’s army and they may have been suffocated by a fire lit by Alexander’s soldiers at the entrance of the cave (Cross 1974, pp. 17–18).

1 See the list of the finds from the Persian period in Mughâret Abū Shinjeh in Lapp and Lapp (1974, pp. 13–14).

Religions 2020, 11, 63; doi:10.3390/rel11020063 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Religions 2020, 11, 63 3 of 13

documents have specific roles related to concrete commercial transactions in the concrete contexts of their conclusion. Moreover, as stated above, none of the manuscripts is preserved in its entirety; some of them are very fragmentary, and so the roles of some persons mentioned in the fragments cannot be ascertained. It is also very difficult to draw any conclusion regarding the cults existing in Samaria on the basis of the proper names attested in the documents. Some persons mentioned in the papyri probably did not live in Samaria. Moreover, the presence of a theophoric element in a proper name does not allow us to determine the religion of the person’s family. None of the persons attested in the documents bears a proper name and a patronymic containing the same theophoric element. There are cases when one of the two names contains a theophoric element and the other does not. There are also cases when the name of the son contains a theophoric element different from that which is in the name of his father.9 In the manuscripts from the Persian period and the bullae associated with the finds in Wadi Daliyeh, we discern several categories of proper names:10 Yahwistic names with the elements yhw-,11 -yh,12 and -yhw;13 proper names with the common Semitic elements El and Ab;14 Aramaean names with the theophoric elements Sahar, Šamaš, and others15; Babylonian, Assyrian, or West Semitic names;16 Phoenician;17 Persian;18 and Idumaean names (with the theophoric element “Qos”);19 a possible fragment of an Egyptian name (Pwt[), and some North Arabic names20. There is also a group of hypocoristic names, with no theophoric element, 21 proper names whose interpretation is Articleuncertain, 22 and probably also one gentilic name (Krty[“Cretan”). The number of persons acting in the role of buyers in the documents is quite limited, and their names are Yahwistic or West Semitic with no theophoric elements; one name is Aramaic, and another, The ImportanceReligions 2020, 11, 63 of the Wadi Daliyeh Manuscripts 5 of 12 West Semitic with the element “Ab,” belonged to a woman.23 The buyers were probably inhabitants of the province of Samaria, perhaps even of the city of Samaria. Some proper names of the buyers forappear thein more thanHistory one deed. On ofthis basis, Samaria we were able to anddistinguish the three chronologicallySamaritans 32 successive archivesof inJudah. the corpus (DušekDelayah, 2007, pp. son 454–66): of Sin ʾ uballit., probably succeeded his father as governor of Samaria after 407 Jan• Dušekthe archive ofBCE, Yehopada(y)ni, and he probably probably constituted held thisbefore function the mid-4th approximately century BCE; during the first third or the first half of the 4th

Protestant Theological century Faculty, BCE. Charles University, Prague 115 55, Czech Republic; [email protected] 9 Received: The seller of16 the December slave inOther WDSP 2019; 1 ohas ffiAccepted: acials Yahwisti attestedc 20proper January name, among and2020; his thePublished:patronymic witnesses contains 29 January the of element the 2020 Wadi Daliyeh documents are judges and “El.” In the inscription of the governor of Samaria on bulla WD 22, the name of the owner of the seal is ,who might have been of Persian origin ,( וה!(ו!)דת the element דינא!) Yahwistic, whereasprefects. the name Aof his judge father withis probab aly Persian Babylonian name, and might Vahudata have contained Abstract:“Sin.” In witnessedthis article,the we conclusiondeal with the of contractstopic of the WDSP Samaria 2, WDSP papyri 3, from and perhapsWadi Daliyeh also WDSP in three 10, all dated around 10 Our analysis is based on our own edition of the manuscripts in Dušek (2007, pp. 486–89). For the occurrence mainof the partsnames inimplied concretethe mid-4th manuscripts, by the century title. see our First, index BCE. wein Dušek He briefly might (2007, summarize pp. have 616–17). been A slightly the the basic different owner data list of and re the lated seal to imprinted the manuscripts. on one of the three bullae Second,interpretation we ofanalyzeWD personal 17, names their WD in significance the 36, Samaria or WD papyri 51.for was 33the publishedA history prefect by Frank of with Samaria. Moore a Cross Phoenician Third,(2006). the name last section containing is devoted an Egyptian to theophoric 11 Yhwntn, Yhwnwr, Yhwn[, Yhwydʿ, Yhwydn, Yhwzkr, Yhwbnh, Yhwʾb, Yhwšpṭ, [Y]hwšbh, Yhwrʿy, Yhw theʿzr, Yhwslh“Isyatonhistory. of thethe prefect”)Samaritans. appears among the witnesses in WDSP 8,12 which can be אסיתוʿnny for, Nסגנא!) theYhwpdny meaning/Yhwpdyny elementof, theYhwʿ qbpapyri, Yhw is mentioned (חנN סגנא!) ”Among these names,dated we mention to around as examples 350 N orḥmyh 350–340, Ḥnnyh, Dlyh BCE, Ptḥyh (, Dušekʿqbyh, and 2007ʿnnyh. , p. 215). “Hanan the prefect 12 13 Only one proper name is entirely preserved: Mkyhw. . 14Keywords For example,: YšmWadiinʾl the(three Daliyeh; fragmentary bullae belonging Samaria; to document a private Persian collection WDSPperiod; and associated 11r,13, Samaritans with which Wadi can Daliyeh; be see dated to the end of the reign of Artaxerxes II (Stern 1992, plates(405–359 I, 1, and III, 1.2; BCE) Meshorer or the and Qedar beginning 1991, pp. 11–12)), of the Dlh reignʾl, ʾbyʿdn of, ʾbšlm Artaxerxes. III (359–338 BCE) (Dušek 2007, p. 252). 15 For example, Šhr, Šhrntn, Brykšmš, ʿzrʾ, ʿqybʾ, nṭyrʾ‚ etc. 16 For example, Snʾblṭ, NbwAʾḥdn comparison, Šlmn. of the proper names in the Samaria papyri from the Late Persian period with the 17 Yšdbʿl, [B]ʿlytwn, ʾsytwn. 18 proper names attested in the Samaria ostraca, written in the city of Samaria during the first half of 1. Discovery Apart from the of names the of Samaria the Persian kingsPapyri (Artaxerxe in Wadis, Darius), Daliyeh, the Persian Their names include,Date andfor example, Content Whdt/Whwdt, Bgbrtthe, and 8th some century names not BCE,preserved34 inis their interesting. entirety. The Samaria ostraca contain Yahwistic names as well as names 19 Qwsdkr, Qwsnhr. 35 20 ʾblḥThey, Bsn Samaria, Ḥlpn, ʿwithmwldw… papyri the, Rby theophoricʾlhy. were found element by the “Ba Taʿâmirehal”. The Bedouins Samaria in papyrithe Mughâret from Wadi Abū Daliyeh, Shinjeh writtencave approximately in21 Wadiʾtr, ʾry, Ḥ Daliyeh,ny, Ḥnnfour, Ydʿ, approximatelyYqym centuries, Yš[w]ʿ (bulla after WD 14 the23), km [N Samaria]ḥ wmnorth, Ntn , ofʿ ostraca,nny Jericho,, Škwy, Šlwm demonstrate in, ]šlwmy or before, ]šlm, Ttn that ,1962. Lnry Yahwistic, The exact names date wereof their predominant in the and ʾb(/d)n (bulla WD 54). discovery22 E.g., Mspnq… is ,unknown. MndSamarian[, ]lnh, Ptlmn Scholars [, and others. in Jerusalem, of the 4th Yusef century Saad, BCE. the This curator indicates of the that Palestine the biblical Archaeological affirmation on the definitive Museum,23 Yhwnwr son Roland of Lnrydeportation (WDSPde Vaux 1, WDSP offrom Israel4, WDSP theto École14, WDSP Biblique 20); inʾbyʿ 2dn Kingset(WDSP archéologique 2—the 17:6 name and of 23 afrançaise 36woman);should in not Jerusalem, be considered and Paul to be a historical fact. Yhwpdyny and ʾry son of Dlyh (WDSP 3); Yhwpdyny (WDSP 9 and WDSP 11r); Nṭyrʾ son of Yhwpdny (WDSP W. 5,Lapp, WDSP 8, atWDSP thatThe 9, WDSP time Samaria 18?); director Ybn papyri[ (WDSP of 15). fromthe American Wadi Daliyeh School prove of Oriental that the Research Yahwistic in populationJerusalem (W. remained F. in the land in Albright Institutespite of of Oriental the deportation Research), of 27,290were in orformed 27,280 of people their reportedexistence in by the the inscriptions famous dealer of Sargon in II (Cogan 2008, antiquities Khalilpp. Iskander 82, 89, 93). Shahin, Ba alistic known proper under names, the name well attested Kando, inin theApril 8th-century 1962. A set Samaria of objects— ostraca, are not attested manuscripts, bullae,in the 4th-centuryand coins—coming Samaria from papyri. the Bed It isouins’ nevertheless excavations difficult in the to Wadi draw Daliyeh any solid cave conclusion of on this fact. Mughâret Abū ShinjehThe Yahwisticwere subsequently names attested purchased in the for 8th-century the Palestine BCE Archaeological kingdom of Israel Museum in the in Samaria ostraca, as Jerusalem (today the Rockefeller Museum) on 19 November 1962 and 7 August 1963. The well as in the inscriptions from , contain the “northern” Israelite form of the theophoric manuscripts were edited twice. The first edition was prepared by Douglas M. Gropp (Gropp et al. element Yw.37 This form was apparently no longer used in the province of Samaria in the Persian 2001) and the second by the author of this article (Dušek 2007). A few other inscribed fragments were period. The Yahwistic proper names contain only the “Judaean” form of the theophoric element yhw-, later purchased for the private collection of Martin Schøyen. The script on the new papyri fragments -yh, and -yhw. is the same as that used in the main corpus. Some of the fragments seem to contain parts of proper names and other2.2. words Length attested and Weight in the Measures main corpus in 4th-Century of the Samaria BCE Samaria papyri, so it is possible that the fragments from the Schøyen collection originally belonged to this set of papyri (Dušek 2016). The legal documents,The Samaria today known papyri as from the Wadi Wadi Daliyeh Daliyeh Samaria also provide Papyri (WDSP), us with were an insight probably into the systems of deposited in themeasurement Mughâret Ab andū Shinjeh weighing cave (especially in Wadi Daliyeh in relation in the to context payments). of the Becauseevents in of Samaria the fragmentary state of during and afterthe manuscripts,the campaign theof Alexander evidence is the quite Great limited in Egypt and incomplete.in 332/31 BCE. Alexander, after having conquered theThe city only of Tyre indication in July of 332 a unitBCE ofand length appointed is in manuscriptAndromachus WDSP as governor 14,6, which of Syria, seems to concern the ]¸ארK! א! continued southwardconstruction to Egypt. or reconstruction During his stay of some in Egypt, halls, andthe inhabitants their sale,transmission, of the city ofor Samaria lease: 10 20 that Alexander precedes thereceived number this is bad very news, probably he an abbreviation א!revolted against] [Andromachus] “]length of (38and/)39 burned c(ubits)[”. him alive.38 The When cubits”. Historiae We IV, do VIII, not know 9–11). exactly The owner how or long the cubit used“ אמCurtius,!N אמיand“cubit,” punished or in the a pluralrebels form(Quintus!N אמה! returned to Samariafor \ owners of the inSamaria Samaria papyri in the were Persian probably period among was. the If thepeople units from of length the city corresponded of Samaria who to thetried Babylonian to standard, escape from Alexander’sas we suppose army, for and the who, units with of weight only their (see most below), valuable the cubit and transportable used in Samaria belongings, could have corresponded wanted to hideto 48–50in the cmMughâret (Powel, pp.Abū 470–71, Shinjeh §I.4 cave g). in Wadi Daliyeh. 1 Nevertheless, they were probably found by Alexander’s army and they may have been suffocated by a fire lit by Alexander’s soldiers at the entrance of the cave (Cross 1974, pp. 17–18). 32 TAD A4.7, 29; A4.8, 28; A4.9, 1. 1 See the list of33 theSee finds (Dušek from 2007 the, Persian pp. 95–96, period 512). in For Mughâret the bullae Ab WDū Shinjeh 17, WD in 36, Lapp and WD and 51, Lapp see (1974, (Leith 1997pp. 13–14)., pp. 209–12). 34 For the date of the Samaria ostraca, see (Lemaire 1977, pp. 39–43). For the editio princeps, see (Reisner et al. 1924, vol. 1, Religions 2020, 11, 63; doi:10.3390/rel11020063pp. 227–46). www.mdpi.com/journal/religions 35 André Lemaire(1977, pp. 47–55) reports eleven Yahwistic names and eight Ba alistic names. See also the list of proper names in the Samaria ostraca in Reisner et al.(1924, vol. 1, pp. 230–31). 36 “In the ninth year of the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the .” (2 Kgs 17:6). “So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day” (2 Kgs 17:23). 37 For the Samaria ostraca, see (Lemaire 1977, pp. 47–55). For the proper names with the element Yw in the inscriptions from Kuntillet Ajrud, see (Meshel et al. 2012, pp. 73–142, especially p. 128). 38 For the manuscript WDSP 14, see (Dušek 2007, pp. 290–306); for the analysis of the line, especially pp. 297–99. Religions 2020, 11, 63 6 of 12

The transactions recorded in the deeds from Wadi Daliyeh report the payments in weighed silver, in ש! using two units of weight: the sheqel and mina. The sheqels are abbreviated with the letter :sh(eqel[s]) of silver”. The “mina,” a multiple of a sheqel, is fully spelled“ כסP ש! the expression silver mina/minas”. During the 4th century BCE, the system of payments in weighed silver“ כסP מנה! מנN! \ apparently coexisted in Samaria with the system of payment in coins, and some of them were minted in the province of Samaria (Meshorer and Qedar 1991, 1999), but the two systems were apparently independent of each other (Dušek 2007, pp. 497–500). The manuscripts from Wadi Daliyeh provide no hints for the determination of the weight of the sheqel. It was probably different from the weight of the sheqel used during the Persian period in the transactions recorded in the Aramaic documents from Elephantine.39 It is most likely that the sheqel and mina in the Wadi Daliyeh documents corresponded to the Babylonian units, with a sheqel of ca. 8.4 g, and a mina corresponding to the weight of sixty sheqels, i.e., ca. 504 g (Dušek 2007, pp. 505–7).40 The reason is that the legal formulary of the Samaria papyri depends on the Neo-Babylonian legal tradition (Gropp et al. 2001, pp. 19–32),41 so the use of the Babylonian units is the most probable. This fact allows us to give several examples of the prices of slaves in 4th-century BCE Samaria:

WDSP 5, which seems to have been written approximately before 350 BCE, concerns a sale of a • group of slaves for one silver mina, probably corresponding to ca. 504 g of silver; WDSP 3, probably written before 350 BCE, reports the sale of a slave for the price of ten or thirty • sheqels, corresponding to ca. 84 g or 252 g of silver (unfortunately, the price of the slave is damaged in the manuscript); WDSP 2, written in December 352/January 351 BCE, concerns a sale of two slaves, a man and a • woman, slaves “with no defect and with no mark,” for 28 silver sheqels, i.e., ca. 235.2 g of silver; WDSP 4, probably written approximately between 350 and 340 BCE, concerns the sale of a slave • for the price of 30 sheqels of silver, i.e., ca. 252 g of silver; WDSP 1, concluded on 19 March 335 BCE, reports the sale of a slave “with no defect” (line 2), for • the price of 35 silver sheqels, i.e., ca. 294 g of silver.

Concerning the prices of real estate, some evidence is provided by the fragmentary manuscript WDSP 15:

WDSP 15, probably written around the mid-4th century or around 350–340 BCE, seems to concern • the sale of several houses for the price of 1 silver mina and 6 or 9 sheqels of silver, corresponding to ca. 554.4 g or 579.6 g of silver.

3. The Wadi Daliyeh Manuscripts and the History of the Samaritans For more than two millennia, the identity of the Samaritan community is defined, among others, by two elements: the sanctuary of on Mt. Gerizim, and the text of the Pentateuch, whose Samaritan version provides a legitimation of the sanctuary. In this section, we attempt to summarize what we know about the Yahwistic sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim and about the existence of the Pentateuch in Samaria at the time when the manuscripts from Wadi Daliyeh were written, during the 4th century BCE. As the topic is very complicated and a lot has been written on it, it is impossible to discuss all the details here. Thus, we summarize only the basic facts.

39 The system of weights used in the documents from Elephantine was different from that which is attested in the Samaria papyri. The documents from Elephantine do not seem to have used the unit “mina.” Moreover, the system at Elephantine used the Persian unit “karsh,” which was not used in the province of Samaria. The sheqel at Elephantine seems to have corresponded to the weight of the Attic didrachma of ca. 8.76 g. See (Porten 1968, pp. 62–70). 40 The approximate weight of a sheqel of 8.33 g and a mina of ca. 500 g has been fixed by Powel(Powel, p. 510, §V.4 and §V.5). We do not agree with Gropp, who argued that the mina in the Samaria papyri corresponded to the weight of fifty sheqels (Gropp et al. 2001, p. 28). For more details, see (Dušek 2007, pp. 85–86). 41 The legal documents from Elephantine depend on a different legal tradition, probably Neo-Assyrian (Gropp 2000). Religions 2020, 11, 63 7 of 12

3.1. The Yahwistic Sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim in the Persian Period We have seen above that the majority of the names attested in the Samaria papyri from Wadi Daliyeh are Yahwistic, i.e., are composed with a theophoric element yhw-, -yh, or -yhw. Who were these Yahwists? They were very probably the descendants of the ancient Israelites who survived after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians after the defeat of Samaria in 722 BCE, and who continued to live in the province of Samaria, which was ruled by the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, and, in the 4th century BCE, when the Samaria papyri were written, was part of the Persian satrapy of Transeuphrates.42 During the Persian period, the religious center of the Yahwistic community in Samaria was the sanctuary of Yahweh on Mt. Gerizim.43 We do not know when exactly the Mt. Gerizim sanctuary began to be used (Dušek 2014). We only know that the earliest explicit evidence thus far known, literary as well as archeological, dates from the Persian period. In Jewish Antiquities, Flavius reported two stories (Ant. 11.302–312; Ant. 11.321–325) related to the foundation of the sanctuary, which probably preserved some historical facts, but also contain some legendary elements, and are situated in a partially wrong chronological framework.44 The analysis of Josephus’ accounts in the light of other written and archeological sources indicates that Sanballat, governor of Samaria approximately during the second half of the 5th century BCE, and an adversary of Nehemiah mentioned in the Hebrew ,45 was probably involved in fostering the Samarian Yahwistic sanctuary approximately a century before the context in which it was dated by Josephus, i.e., in the second half of the 5th century BCE.46 It seems that Josephus confused two different historical events: the building of the sanctuary of Yahweh on Mt. Gerizim in the late 5th century, and, in the late 4th century, the beginning of the construction of a city, which existed until the late 2nd century BCE and surrounded the sanctuary.47 Josephus’ story of the foundation of the Mt. Gerizim sanctuary in Ant. 11.321–325 may in reality have concerned the foundation of the city around the sanctuary of Yahweh in the late 4th century BCE. Three arguments allow us to date the foundation on Mt. Gerizim more precisely. First, according to Josephus, the sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim was founded after Manasses, together with his wife Nikaso (daughter of Sanballat), was expelled from Jerusalem and moved to Samaria. If we trust the biblical account in Neh 13:28, the son-in-law of Sanballat was expelled during Nehemiah’s second mission in Jerusalem. Nehemiah’s first mission in Jerusalem ended in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes I (Neh 5:14; 13:6), in 433/432 BCE. It means that the sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim was probably constructed after 433/432 BCE. Second, Josephus reports that the sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim was founded when Sanballat was an old man; he died shortly after its foundation (Ant. 11.311 and 325). Some letters from Elephantine help us to arrive at an approximate date for this late period of Sanballat’s rule in Samaria. The letter TAD A.4.7, 29, indicates that at the time when the letter was written, in 407 BCE, the administration of the province seems already to have been in the hands of the two sons of Sanballat, Delayah and

42 Knoppers(2013, pp. 18–44) convincingly argues that most of the Israelite population remained in the land after the conquest of Samaria/Israel by the Assyrians in the 8th century BCE. This fact makes clear that the Samaritans were not a kind of “Jewish Sect.” Purvis(1968), for example, considered the Samaritans to be a Jewish sect, and this opinion cannot be held anymore. The opinion that the is a kind of “downgraded ,” based on the reading of 2 Kgs 17, is wrong. The text of 2 Kgs 17:24–41 is a late literary construct, probably written in the Persian period as Jewish anti-Samaritan polemics; see (Kartveit 2018). 43 It is not clear whether it was a temple or an altar; see (Pummer 2016). 44 The first story in Ant. 11.302–312 is dated by Josephus to the time of “Darius the last king,” when Samaria was supposedly ruled by Sanaballetes. His daughter Nikaso married Manasses, the brother of Yaddus, the high priest of the Jerusalem temple. Following a negative reaction to this marriage in Jerusalem, Manasses and Nikaso had to leave Jerusalem and moved to Samaria. Sanaballetes subsequently built the sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim and appointed Manasses high priest there. The second story in Ant. 11.321–325 concerns the foundation of the Mt. Gerizim sanctuary by Sanaballetes at the end of the Persian period, during the conquest by Alexander the Great of Tyre and Gaza in 332 BCE. 45 Neh 2:10, 19; 3:33; 4:1; 6:1, 2, 5, 12, 14; 13:28. 46 On Sanballat in historical sources and modern scholarly debate, see (Dušek 2012b). 47 On the city around the Mt. Gerizim sanctuary excavated by Yitzhak Magen, see below. Religions 2020, 11, 63 8 of 12

Shelemyah. A memorandum regarding the matter of the reconstruction of the Elephantine temple of Yhw sent from Palestine to Elephantine some time after 407 BCE already contains a proclamation of the leaders of the provinces of Judah and Samaria, the governor Bagavayah on behalf of Judah, and Delayah, probably the son of Sanballat, on behalf of Samaria. An approximate terminus ad quem of the construction of the sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim can be fixed to 407 BCE. Third, the first of Josephus’ two stories, Ant. 11.302–312, is dated to the time of “Darius the last king” (Ant. 11.302), who was Darius III “Codomanus.” Josephus probably made a chronological error in moving the events related to Sanballat in the time of the Persian king Darius a century later, from the late 5th century BCE, from the time of Darius II “Ochus,” to the late 4th century BCE, to the time of Darius III “Codomanus,” the last Persian king. Darius II “Ochus” reigned from 424 to 405 BCE. If the sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim was actually built by Sanballat in the time of Darius, it was under Darius II, after 424 BCE. The three arguments, based on the written evidence, allow us to date the foundation of the sanctuary of Yahweh on Mt. Gerizim to approximately between 424 and 407 BCE. The results of the archeological excavations on Mt. Gerizim, led by the team of Yitzhak Magen since 1982, provide approximate confirmation of such a chronological conclusion. Magen dated the earliest known evidence from the Mt. Gerizim sanctuary, consisting mainly of ceramics, bones, and coins, to the 5th century (Magen 2007, pp. 158–64, 176–80; Magen 2008, pp. 167–69). The sanctuary was surrounded by a city, the development of which seems to have begun after the conquest of the southern by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE (Magen 2008, pp. 3–93, especially p. 89), and it continued to develop during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. Both the city and the sanctuary were probably destroyed by in the late 2nd century BCE.

3.2. The Pentateuch in Samaria in the 4th Century BCE? The Yahwists whose names appear in various roles in the Samaria papyri from Wadi Daliyeh were very probably members of the Yahwistic community in the province of Samaria, the center of which was, in the 4th century BCE, when the documents were written, already situated in the sanctuary of Yahweh on Mt. Gerizim. Manuscripts of the Pentateuch from later periods provide a legitimation of the existence of the Mt. Gerizim sanctuary.48 But did the Samarian Yahwists in the 4th century BCE, whose names very often appear in the manuscripts from Wadi Daliyeh, already know and use the Pentateuch? An Aramaic letter, written in 419 BCE and found at Elephantine in Egypt, contains instructions concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread.49 Pierre Grelot argued that the letter reflects a customary priestly law as it existed before the fixation of the priestly texts of the Pentateuch in a written form, and before their unification with the text of Deuteronomy (Grelot 1955). The fact that the Yahwistic community at Elephantine in Egypt needed to receive the instructions on the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the form of a letter indicates that they did not yet know the text of the Pentateuch with the text of Exodus 12 (Lemaire 1995, especially pp. 60–61). The fixation of the priestly documents of the Pentateuch and their unification with Deuteronomy might have been connected with the activity of Ezra, who very probably arrived in Jerusalem in the early 4th century BCE, in 398 BCE, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes II (405–359 BCE).50 A new document, perhaps already the Pentateuch, seems to

48 For the texts of the legitimating the existence of the sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim, see (Tov 2012, pp. 87–88). For example, the Samaritan Pentateuch contains an additional Samaritan tenth commandment referring to Mt. Gerizim, composed from the texts of Deut 11:29a, Deut 27:2b–3a, Deut 27:4a, Deut 27:5–7, and Deut 11:30. The Samaritan Pentateuch also contains what is probably the original reading of Deut 27:4 referring to Mt. Gerizim instead of the later Masoretic version citing Mt. Ebal (see, e.g., Nihan 2007, pp. 213–14; Pummer 2007, p. 245; Kartveit 2009, pp. 300–9; Schenker 2010; Dušek 2012a, p. 90; Himbaza 2018, especially pp. 109–11). 49 It is the letter TAD A4.1, labelled by Porten and Yardeni as “the Passover Letter.” 50 Ezra 7:7–8. The year of the arrival of Ezra in Jerusalem has been much discussed. A great number of scholars opted for the seventh year of Artaxerxes I (465–425 BCE), in 458 BCE; thus, for example, (Williamson 1985, pp. xxxix–xliv). In our opinion, Religions 2020, 11, 63 9 of 12 have been produced during the 4th century BCE, and united the Yahwists in Judah and in Samaria under the same Law. Christoph Nihan argued that this new document guaranteed mutual recognition by the Judaean and Samarian Yahwists of the legitimacy of their altars on Mt. Gerizim and in Jerusalem (Nihan 2007). This means that a written document, negotiated between the Samarian and the Judaean Yahwists, may have guaranteed the coexistence of the two sanctuaries in the same Yahwistic religion, and may already have existed in the 4th century BCE, before Alexander, when the Wadi Daliyeh manuscripts were written in the city of Samaria. We do not know whether it was already the text of the Pentateuch, as it is known from the later periods, or not. But nothing proves that, at this time, the document would have been widespread and read among the ordinary Yahwistic population of Samaria. A comparison with later periods even seems to indicate that the Samarian Yahwists, who were very probably among the people who died in the Mughâret Abu¯ Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh at the end of the Persian period, did not yet consider the text of the Pentateuch to be a text that should be copied for, distributed among, and read by ordinary people. This is what is suggested by a comparison of the nature of the finds from the Persian period from the Mughâret Abu¯ Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh with the texts from the Roman period discovered in the vicinity of the , mainly in the Judaean . These discoveries indicate that, at this time, the people who escaped to the and hid themselves with their valuables in some of its caves carried with them not only the keys to their houses, jewelry, and other precious and important objects, but also their legal documents and biblical scrolls.51 It is clear that an argument a silencio should always be handled with a great deal of care, but the absence of any religious texts among the finds from the Persian period in Wadi Daliyeh may indicate that, at the end of the Persian period, in the province of Samaria, the text of the Pentateuch did not yet have Article the status of a text accessible to the “ordinary” members of the Yahwistic community, and was not yet handledThe asImportance a valuable personal of object. the This Wadi hypothesis Daliyeh seems to be confirmedManuscripts by the fact that, to date, the existence of a manuscript from the Persian period of the Pentateuch, or of any other text later adoptedfor in the canon History of the Hebrew of orSamaria Christian Bible, and is not the yet known. Samaritans The Pentateuch, or portions thereof, probably shared between Mt. Gerizim and Jerusalem from the 4th centuryJan Dušek BCE onward, represented what we call a “fragile equilibrium” between the two Yahwistic 52 communitiesProtestant in Theological Samaria and Faculty, Judah. CharlesThis University unity, consisting, Prague 115 of 55, a Czech mutual Republic; recognition [email protected] of the two altars on Mt. Gerizim and in Jerusalem by the Yahwists in Samaria and Judah, probably collapsed in the 2nd Received: 16 December 2019; Accepted: 20 January 2020; Published: 29 January 2020 century BCE, probably after 168 BCE, when the reference to the altar on Mt. Gerizim in Deut 27:4 was probablyAbstract: changed In inthis the article, Judaean we textsdeal with to “Mt. theEbal,” topic of and, the in Samaria consequence, papyri thefrom Mt. Wadi Gerizim Daliyeh sanctuary in three lost itsmain legitimacy parts implied for the by Judaeans. the title. ItFirst, is also we inbriefly the 2nd summarize century the BCE basic that data the re Greeklated termto the᾿Ι manuscripts.oυδαϊσµóς “Judaism,”Second, appears we analyze for the their first significance time in the for written the history evidence of Samaria. to designate Third, the the Jewish last section religion, is devoted i.e., the to 53 Yahwisticthe religionmeaning centered of the papyri in Jerusalem, for the history different of the from Samaritans. the Yahwism in Samaria. It is probably only at that time that the Samarian Yahwists began to be officially perceived in Jerusalem as a religion differentKeywords from Jerusalem.: Wadi Daliyeh; Samaria; Persian period; Samaritans

the most likely possibility is that Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes II, in 398 BCE, and we rely upon1. Discovery the arguments of in the favor Samaria of this chronological Papyri in interpretationWadi Daliyeh, presented Their by Date A. Van and Hoonacker Content(1890 , 1923, 1924), Cazelles (1954), Grelot(1955), Harold H. Rowley(1965), and Lemaire(1995). 51 We mentionThe someSamaria examples. papyri The were caves found in Wadi by Murabba the Taʿâmirehat yielded Bedouins Hebrew and in Aramaicthe Mughâret documentary Abū Shinjeh texts and cave the Bar-Kokhbain Wadi letters,Daliyeh, as well approximately as fragments of 14 biblical km north manuscripts of Jericho, of Genesis, in or Exodus, before Numbers, 1962. The Deuteronomy, exact date and of their (Benoit et al. 1961). The refugees who hid in the during the Second Jewish Revolt against the Romans carried withdiscovery them into is the unknown. cave objects Scholars such as metal in Jerusalem, utensils, wooden Yusef and Saad, leather the objects, curator keys, of the glass Palestine plates, jewelry, Archaeological and purses (YadinMuseum, 1963). They Roland also broughtde Vaux their from legal the and École epistolary Biblique texts ( Yadinet archéologique et al. 2002), and française fragments in of Jerusalem, biblical manuscripts and Paul of NumeriW. Lapp, and Psalms at that were time also founddirector in the of cave the (Peter American Flint in Charlesworth School of etOriental al. 2000, pp.Research 137–66). Fragmentsin Jerusalem of the (W. books F. of Genesis, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, and Psalms written before 73 CE were discovered at , together with otherAlbright texts (Talmon Institute et al. of1999 Oriental). Research), were informed of their existence by the famous dealer in 52 (Dušekantiquities 2012a, pp. Khalil 93–96). Iskander Himbaza (Shahin,2018), in theknown case of under Deut 27:2–8, the name speaks Kando, of a compromise in April version 1962. ofA theset text, of objects— accepted in Judahmanuscripts, and in Samaria. bullae, and coins—coming from the Bedouins’ excavations in the Wadi Daliyeh cave of 53 The term ᾿Ιoυδαϊσµóς is used for the first time in 2 2:21; 8:1; and 14:38 (twice). Mughâret Abū Shinjeh were subsequently purchased for the Palestine Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem (today the Rockefeller Museum) on 19 November 1962 and 7 August 1963. The manuscripts were edited twice. The first edition was prepared by Douglas M. Gropp (Gropp et al. 2001) and the second by the author of this article (Dušek 2007). A few other inscribed fragments were later purchased for the private collection of Martin Schøyen. The script on the new papyri fragments is the same as that used in the main corpus. Some of the fragments seem to contain parts of proper names and other words attested in the main corpus of the Samaria papyri, so it is possible that the fragments from the Schøyen collection originally belonged to this set of papyri (Dušek 2016). The legal documents, today known as the Wadi Daliyeh Samaria Papyri (WDSP), were probably deposited in the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh in the context of the events in Samaria during and after the campaign of Alexander the Great in Egypt in 332/31 BCE. Alexander, after having conquered the city of Tyre in July 332 BCE and appointed Andromachus as governor of Syria, continued southward to Egypt. During his stay in Egypt, the inhabitants of the city of Samaria revolted against Andromachus and burned him alive. When Alexander received this bad news, he returned to Samaria and punished the rebels (Quintus Curtius, Historiae IV, VIII, 9–11). The owner or owners of the Samaria papyri were probably among the people from the city of Samaria who tried to escape from Alexander’s army, and who, with only their most valuable and transportable belongings, wanted to hide in the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh. 1 Nevertheless, they were probably found by Alexander’s army and they may have been suffocated by a fire lit by Alexander’s soldiers at the entrance of the cave (Cross 1974, pp. 17–18).

1 See the list of the finds from the Persian period in Mughâret Abū Shinjeh in Lapp and Lapp (1974, pp. 13–14).

Religions 2020, 11, 63; doi:10.3390/rel11020063 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Religions 2020, 11, 63 10 of 12

In consequence, “Samaritanism” as a Yahwistic religion on its own, opposed to Judaism, was probably not yet as strictly defined in the 4th century BCE, when the Samaria papyri from Wadi Daliyeh were written, as became the case during the 2nd century BCE. This is why the people with Yahwistic names mentioned in the Samaria papyri cannot be considered “Samaritans” in the sense in which we use this term today, and which very probably began to be used only in later periods, as a result of Jewish self-determination as a religion different from Samarian Yahwism.

4. Conclusions The Samaria papyri from Wadi Daliyeh provide us with information on the existence of a group of a population bearing Yahwistic names that coexisted in Samaria with people bearing names containing other theophoric elements. Nevertheless, as we argue above, the existence of various divinities attested in the proper names that appear in the manuscripts does not mean that all these divinities had their cults in Samaria. There is explicit evidence of the cult for Yahweh in Samaria, whose sanctuary on Mt. Gerizim Article seems to have been founded in the second half of the 5th century BCE, probably between 424 and 407 BCE. Thus, the Yahwists, whoseThe names Importance are attested in the manuscripts of the Wadi from Wadi Daliyeh Daliyeh, probably Manuscripts already had their religious center there. Concerning the Pentateuch, whose Samaritan version provides a legitimation of the existencefor of this the sanctuary, History the evidence of isSamaria much less clear. and A written the document Samaritans negotiated between the Samarian Yahwists (with center on Mt. Gerizim) and the Judaean Yahwists (with center in Jerusalem) mayJan have Dušek already existed in the 4th century BCE, before Alexander. But it is not certain if it was already theProtestant Pentateuch Theological as we know Faculty, it from Charles the University later periods., Prague 115 55, Czech Republic; [email protected]

Funding: This research received noReceived: external 16 funding. December 2019; Accepted: 20 January 2020; Published: 29 January 2020

Conflicts of Interest: The author declaresAbstract: no conflictIn this article, of interest. we deal with the topic of the Samaria papyri from Wadi Daliyeh in three main parts implied by the title. First, we briefly summarize the basic data related to the manuscripts. Abbreviations Second, we analyze their significance for the history of Samaria. Third, the last section is devoted to Ant. Flavius Josephus, Jewishthe meaning Antiquities of the papyri for the history of the Samaritans. Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni. Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt. Vol. 1: TAD A Letters. Jerusalem: TheKeywords Hebrew: University, Wadi Daliyeh; 1986. Samaria; Persian period; Samaritans WD Wadi Daliyeh WDSP Wadi Daliyeh Samaria Papyrus

References 1. Discovery of the Samaria Papyri in Wadi Daliyeh, Their Date and Content

Benoit, Pierre, Józef Tadeusz Milik, andThe Roland Samaria de Vaux. papyri 1961. wereLes grottesfound deby Murabba the Taʿâmirehât (Discoveries Bedouins in the in Judaean the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave Desert 2). Oxford: Clarendonin Press. Wadi Daliyeh, approximately 14 km north of Jericho, in or before 1962. The exact date of their Cazelles, Henri. 1954. La missiondiscovery d’Esdras. Vetusis unknown. Testamentum Scholars4: 113–40. in Jerusalem, [CrossRef Yusef] Saad, the curator of the Palestine Archaeological Charlesworth, James, Nahum Cohen,Museum, Hannah Roland M. Cotton, de Vaux Esther from Eshel, the Hanan École Eshel, Biblique Peter et W. archéologique Flint, Haggai Misgav, française in Jerusalem, and Paul Mathew Morgenstern, and KatherineW. Lapp, Murphy. at that 2000.timeMiscellaneous director of Textsthe American from the Judaean School Desert of (DiscoveriesOriental Research in in Jerusalem (W. F. the Judaean Desert 38). Oxford:Albright Clarendon Institute Press. of Oriental Research), were informed of their existence by the famous dealer in Cogan, Mordechai. 2008. The Ragingantiquities Torrent. Khalil Historical Iskander Inscriptions Shahin, from known Assyria andunder the name Relating Kando, to Ancient in April 1962. A set of objects— Israel. Jerusalem: Carta. manuscripts, bullae, and coins—coming from the Bedouins’ excavations in the Wadi Daliyeh cave of Cross, Frank Moore. 1974. The PapyriMughâret and TheirAbū Shinjeh Historical were Implications. subsequently In Discoveries purchased in thefor Wtheâd ¯ıPalestine ed-Dâliyeh Archaeological Museum in (The Annual of the AmericanJerusalem Schools of Oriental (today Researchthe Rockefeller 41). Edited Museum) by Paul W. on Lapp 19 andNovember Nancy L. 1962 Lapp. and 7 August 1963. The Cambridge: American Schoolsmanuscripts of Oriental were Research, edited pp. twice. 17–29. The first edition was prepared by Douglas M. Gropp (Gropp et al. Cross, Frank Moore. 1985. Samaria2001) Papyrus and the 1:second an Aramaic by the author Slave Conveyanceof this article of (Dušek 335 B.C.E. 2007). Found A few in other the inscribed fragments were Wâd¯ı ed-Dâliyeh. In Nahmanlater Avigad purchased Volume (Eretz-Israelfor the private 18). collection Edited by Benjaminof Martin Mazar Schøyen. and The Yigael script Yadin. on the new papyri fragments Jerusalem: The Israel Explorationis the Society,same as The that Institute used in of the Archaeology, main corpus. the HebrewSome of University, the fragments pp. 5*–17*. seem to contain parts of proper Cross, Frank Moore. 2006. Personalnames Names and inother the Samariawords attested Papyri. inBulletin the main of the corpus American of the Schools Samaria of Oriental papyri, so it is possible that the Research 344: 75–90. [CrossReffragments] from the Schøyen collection originally belonged to this set of papyri (Dušek 2016). Dušek, Jan. 2007. Les manuscrits araméensThe du legal Wadi documents, Daliyeh et la Samarietoday known vers 450–332 as the av. Wadi J.-C. Daliyeh (Culture Samaria and History Papyri of (WDSP), were probably the Ancient 30). Leidendeposited and Boston: in the Brill.Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh in the context of the events in Samaria during and after the campaign of Alexander the Great in Egypt in 332/31 BCE. Alexander, after having conquered the city of Tyre in July 332 BCE and appointed Andromachus as governor of Syria, continued southward to Egypt. During his stay in Egypt, the inhabitants of the city of Samaria revolted against Andromachus and burned him alive. When Alexander received this bad news, he returned to Samaria and punished the rebels (Quintus Curtius, Historiae IV, VIII, 9–11). The owner or owners of the Samaria papyri were probably among the people from the city of Samaria who tried to escape from Alexander’s army, and who, with only their most valuable and transportable belongings, wanted to hide in the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh. 1 Nevertheless, they were probably found by Alexander’s army and they may have been suffocated by a fire lit by Alexander’s soldiers at the entrance of the cave (Cross 1974, pp. 17–18).

1 See the list of the finds from the Persian period in Mughâret Abū Shinjeh in Lapp and Lapp (1974, pp. 13–14).

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In The Samaritans in Historical, Cultural and Linguistic Perspectives (Studia Judaica 110; Studia Samaritana 11). Edited by Jan Dušek. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 3–18. Knoppers, Gary N. 2013. and Samaritans. The Origins and History of Their Early Relations. Oxford: University Press. Article Lapp, Paul W., and Nancy L. Lapp, eds. 1974. Discoveries in the Wâd¯ı ed-Dâliyeh (The Annual of the American Schools of OrientalThe Research Importance 41). Cambridge: American of the Schools Wadi of Oriental Daliyeh Research. Manuscripts Leith, Mary Joan Winn. 1997. Wadi Daliyeh I: The Wadi Daliyeh Seal Impressions (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 24). Oxford:for Clarendon the Press.History of Samaria and the Samaritans Leith, Mary Joan Winn. 2000. Seals and Coins in Persian Period Samaria. In The Dead Sea Scrolls Fifty Years After Their Discovery.Jan Dušek Proceedings of the Jerusalem Congress, July 20–25, 1997. Edited by Lawrence H. Schiffman, Emanuel Tov and James C. VanderKam. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society—The Shrine of the Book, Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague 115 55, Czech Republic; [email protected] Israel Museum, pp. 691–707. Leith, Mary JoanReceived: Winn. 16 2014.December Religious 2019; Accepted: Continuity 20 in January Israel/ Samaria:2020; Published: Numismatic 29 January Evidence. 2020 In A “Religious Revolution” in Yehûd? The Material Culture of the Persian Period as a Test Case (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 267). Edited byAbstract: Christian In Frevel, this article, Katharina we deal Pyschny with and theIzak topic Cornelius. of the Samaria Fribourg: papyri Academic from Press,Wadi Göttingen:Daliyeh in three Vandenhoeckmain parts & Ruprecht, implied pp. by 267–304. the title. First, we briefly summarize the basic data related to the manuscripts. Lemaire, AndrSecond,é. 1977. Inscriptionswe analyze hé braïques.their significance Tome I: Les for ostraca the (Litt historyératures of anciennesSamaria. du Third, Proche-Orient the last 9)section. Paris: is Cerf. devoted to Lemaire, Andrtheé. 1995.meaning La fin of dethe la papyri premiè refor p theériode history perse of en theÉgypte Samaritans. et la chronologie judéenne vers 400 av. J.-C. Transeuphratène 9: 51–61. Keywords: Wadi Daliyeh; Samaria; Persian period; Samaritans Magen, Yitzhak. 2007. The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on in Light of the Archaeological Evidence. In Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E.. Edited by Oded Lipschits, Gary N. Knoppers and Rainer Albertz. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, pp. 157–211. Magen, Yitzhak. 2008. Mount Gerizim Excavations. Vol. II: A Temple City ( and Samaria Publications 8). Jerusalem: 1. Discovery of the Samaria Papyri in Wadi Daliyeh, Their Date and Content Israel Antiquities Authority. Meshel, Zeev, ShmuelThe Samaria Ah. ituv, and papyri Liora were Freud. found 2012. byKuntillet the TaʿâmirehAjrud (H. Bedouinsorvat Teman). in the An IronMughâret Age II Religious Abū Shinjeh Site cave on the Judah-Sinaiin Wadi Daliyeh, Border. Jerusalem:approximately Israel Exploration14 km north Society. of Jericho, in or before 1962. The exact date of their Meshorer, Yadiscoveryakov, and Shragais unknown. Qedar. Scholars 1991. The in Coinage Jerusalem, of Samaria Yusef in the Saad, Fourth the Century curator BCE of. Jerusalem:the Palestine Numismatic Archaeological Fine ArtsMuseum, International, Roland Inc. de Vaux from the École Biblique et archéologique française in Jerusalem, and Paul Meshorer, YaW.akov, Lapp, and at Shraga that time Qedar. director 1999. Samarian of the American Coinage (Numismatic School of StudiesOriental and Research Researches in 9) .Jerusalem Jerusalem: (W. F. The IsraelAlbright Numismatic Institute Society. of Oriental Research), were informed of their existence by the famous dealer in Nihan, Christophe.antiquities 2007. Khalil The TorahIskander between Shahin, Samaria known and under Judah: th Shecheme name Kando, and Gerizim in April inDeuteronomy 1962. A set of and objects— Joshua.manuscripts, In The Pentateuch bullae, as .and coins—coming New Models for from Understanding the Bedouins’ Its Promulgation excavations and in Acceptance the Wadi. EditedDaliyeh by cave of Gary N.Mughâret Knoppers Ab andū BernardShinjeh M.were Levinson. subsequently Winona purchased Lake: Eisenbrauns, for the Palestine pp. 187–223. Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem (today the Rockefeller Museum) on 19 November 1962 and 7 August 1963. The manuscripts were edited twice. The first edition was prepared by Douglas M. Gropp (Gropp et al. 2001) and the second by the author of this article (Dušek 2007). A few other inscribed fragments were later purchased for the private collection of Martin Schøyen. The script on the new papyri fragments is the same as that used in the main corpus. Some of the fragments seem to contain parts of proper names and other words attested in the main corpus of the Samaria papyri, so it is possible that the fragments from the Schøyen collection originally belonged to this set of papyri (Dušek 2016). The legal documents, today known as the Wadi Daliyeh Samaria Papyri (WDSP), were probably deposited in the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh in the context of the events in Samaria during and after the campaign of Alexander the Great in Egypt in 332/31 BCE. Alexander, after having conquered the city of Tyre in July 332 BCE and appointed Andromachus as governor of Syria, continued southward to Egypt. During his stay in Egypt, the inhabitants of the city of Samaria revolted against Andromachus and burned him alive. When Alexander received this bad news, he returned to Samaria and punished the rebels (Quintus Curtius, Historiae IV, VIII, 9–11). The owner or owners of the Samaria papyri were probably among the people from the city of Samaria who tried to escape from Alexander’s army, and who, with only their most valuable and transportable belongings, wanted to hide in the Mughâret Abū Shinjeh cave in Wadi Daliyeh. 1 Nevertheless, they were probably found by Alexander’s army and they may have been suffocated by a fire lit by Alexander’s soldiers at the entrance of the cave (Cross 1974, pp. 17–18).

1 See the list of the finds from the Persian period in Mughâret Abū Shinjeh in Lapp and Lapp (1974, pp. 13–14).

Religions 2020, 11, 63; doi:10.3390/rel11020063 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Religions 2020, 11, 63 12 of 12

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