London, BM EA 45035
TAD D.07.20
Metadata
- Collection
- British Museum | BM (Public)
- Genre
-
- Missive
- Language
- Aramaic
- Script
- Aramaic
- Find Type
- Unclear
- Created by
- James D. Moore
- Material
- clay | sherd (for ostracon)
- Updated by
- James D. Moore, 2026-01-18
- Date (Metadata)
- Gregorian -525 to -399 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- References
-
- Lepper, Verena M. et al. . erc 307717.
- Porten, Bezalel and Yardeni, Ada 1986. D.07.20.
General Notes
BM website: Acquired by William T. Ready on 19 December 1906 from the auction by Sotheby's of a collection formed by Robert de Rustafjaell.
Found/Acquired: Elephantine (probably from)
TAD places at Elephantine
“Localizing 4,000 Years of Cultural History. Texts and Scripts from Elephantine Island in Egypt. ERC Grant ID: 637692,” n.d. TBA.
Porten, Bezalel, and Ada Yardeni. Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt. 4 vols. Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1986.
Textual Notes
This is a strange text. It almost seems like a forgery. The wording is curious, אתה על. The rare לא פשרנ. The mention of שכר Beer or a hiring. Other things are curious. "In the name of" "in the hand of my dauthers". The fact that the strangley shaped sherd is used. I don't know about this. פשר as a verb meaning to fail. The grammar of cv 4 seems incorrect.
That said it was sold in 1906, which means one should look at the Cowley ostraca and the CIS II ostraca to make sure that this is not a forgery.
Text and Translation
Choose alternative texts and translations from the filter. Click individual words in a text for more details.
James Moore Last updated 06 August, 2025 by James D. Moore
James Moore Last updated 06 August, 2025 by James D. Moore
Greetings, Mîkyah. From Natan son of Gemaryah.
Now, come, enter tomorrow and without fail!
Indeed, beer/ a wage is to hi⸢m⸣ for tomorrow.
Now, do not fail to come
tomorrow.
Greetings, Mîkyah. From Yedanyah. Now,
indeed, I sent (word) to you (m.s.) yesterday in the name of
Hôdawyah son of Zekaryah, saying,
"come to this day." But
you did not come. In the hand of my daughters, send (word) /to ⸢me⸣\
Moore, James D.. 'London, BM EA 45035.' DEAPS. 12 Dec, 2025. https://deaps.osu.edu/text_objects/10372. Accessed: 21 Jan, 2026.