Literacy in 600 BC Judah (NYT article)

[JarMan]

This article makes the claim that the literacy rate in 600 BC Judah was much higher than has been previously expected. This is interesting in what it may mean for biblical scholarship as well as the light it might shed on Nephi's life and times. I'm interested in thoughts on either of these issues.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/world/middleeast/new-evidence-onwhen-bible-was-written-ancient-shopping-lists.html?_r=0&referer=http://anthropologyinthenews.tamu.edu/index.php?pagination=10&embedded=1&page=1

[strappinglad]

I read this article from a different website. It is very interesting that the writings cover several classes/occupations etc. It suggests that there was a fairly broad education system in place.

[Robert F. Smith]

One of the advantages of having a consonantal alefbet, and no need for vowel letters, is that anyone can spell whatever he hears.  Takes very little practice, and any child can pick it up.  So high levels of literacy are not surprising.  It is only that the papyrus and vellum manuscripts don't survive as well as ostraca and formal inscriptions in metal or stone.  The same was surprisingly true in ancient Egypt, where even women and workmen could sometimes write notes in hieratic and demotic.  We often underestimate ancient peoples.

[RevTestament]

It has been my impression from Jewish culture that essentially every boy was taught to read the scriptures. This of course would make them literate in Hebrew. Of course a lot can change in  2600 yrs, but the ancient existence of phylacteries among the Jews tends to bear this out.

[Nevo]

Here are a few reflections on the topic from a scholar that I admire:

Quote

As for the contention of this Tel Aviv Study that we can posit a “proliferation of literacy” at ca. 600 BCE, based on the assumption that there are at least six different hands in the sixteen ostraca that were analyzed, I would simply suggest that this is a very broad assumption that I would not be inclined to make. . . .

I would simply conclude that we have some readers and writers of inscriptions at Arad. That’s all we can say. Who were these readers and writers at Arad? I would emphasize that these writers may very well have been scribes associated with the army. After all, we do have references in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., 2 Kings 25:19; Jeremiah 52:25) to the “scribe of the leader of the army” (and I find this title to be something that can be considered a credible, historical thing).

In addition, I do think that it is reasonable to contend that some military officials (at various levels of the command structure) could read and write, and I have noted this in print as well. But, I would wish to emphasize that we do not have evidence for enlisted soldiers, that is, the average soldier, reading and writing. We have evidence for some literacy among some of the army officials. That’s what I think we can say.

Furthermore, although this study does not suggest this, per se, some have already seized upon it (within hours of the appearance of this study!) and begun to contend that we have people from all walks of life writing and reading in First Temple Judah. That’s quite a leap. I would, therefore, emphasize that we have no evidence for the common folk writing and reading, not from the epigraphic record and not from the Bible (see especially Ian Young’s articles on literacy, 1998a; 1998b). . . .

To be sure, most people contemplating the subject of literacy today bring their own experiences to the table, namely, the widespread literacy of the modern world. But in the modern world, we normally have government mandated education of (for all practical purposes) the entire population. Things were very different in antiquity. We have no evidence at all of government mandated education of large portions of the populace in antiquity.

So what do we have? We know that scribes and high governmental officials (temple, palace) and military officials read and wrote. Did some of the trades-people sometimes learn to write? I suppose so. But was it common? No, I don’t think so. Furthermore, note that we have several hundred Old Hebrew inscriptions from the Iron Age that are very well done, with a sophisticated knowledge of letter morphology, stance, orthographic conventions, the use of hieratic numerals, knowledge of epistolary conventions, some understanding of phonology, the ability to use effectively different tenses, parts of speech, and to do so very well. I’d like to suggest that everyone could do that, but I can’t. And, in fact, when someone without formal, standardized education attempted to write an Old Hebrew inscription (or any other ancient script), it is painfully obvious. And we do have a few inscriptions to prove that!

In short, much as it pains me to say it, the writers [and] readers of texts in ancient Israel and Judah were elites, not the common person. In essence, the common person could get along just fine in life without learning to read or write (see Rollston 2006, 48-49 regarding the time it takes to learn one’s first writing system, even an alphabetic one).

http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=708

 

Edited April 14, 2016 by Nevo

[cdowis]

21 hours ago, JarMan said:

This article makes the claim that the literacy rate in 600 BC Judah was much higher than has been previously expected. This is interesting in what it may mean for biblical scholarship as well as the light it might shed on Nephi's life and times. I'm interested in thoughts on either of these issues.

 

I have always found this scripture very interesting, because it referenced an education in language arts early in Nephite history.   This research seems to confirm this was important to the Jews at that time and was carried over to the New World.

Jacob 7 [4] And he (Sherem) was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil.

Edited April 15, 2016 by cdowis