Seeing the invisible: ostraca hunting via multispectral imaging

Levy, Eythan; Faigenbaum-Golovin, Shira; Piasetzky, Eli; Finkelstein, Israel (2022). Seeing the invisible: ostraca hunting via multispectral imaging. Semitica et Classica, 15, pp. 179-188. Brepols 10.1484/J.SEC.5.133134

Text 18-Levy-2022-OstracaHunt-SemClas-15.pdf - Published Version Restricted to registered users only Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (1MB)

Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca (ink-on-clay texts). They are poorly preserved and might fade rapidly once unearthed. Their proper and timely documentation is therefore essential. Our study of numerous Hebrew
ostraca has demonstrated that multispectral imaging has the potential to reveal letters on ostraca otherwise invisible to the naked eye. In the case of Arad Ostracon No. 16 from Judah, dated to ca. 600 bce, we unveiled three lines of text on its supposedly blank reverse side. This surprising outcome led us to question how many ostraca we might be discarding during excavations simply because the sherds look blank. To tackle the problem, we propose a preliminary excavation
protocol for screening ceramic sherds prior to disposal. The protocol is based on our limited experience rather than fully supported statistical test experiments. Here we demonstrate the application of this procedure on recently unearthed pottery sherds from the excavation at Kiriath-jearim near Jerusalem.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

1 since deposited on 19 Apr 2023
0 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item