The Gezer calendar is a small limestone tablet with an early Canaanite inscription discovered in 1908 by Irish archaeologist R. A. Stewart Macalister in the ancient city of Gezer, 20 miles west of Jerusalem. It is commonly dated to the 10th century BCE, but the dating is uncertain, because the excavation was not stratified.Aaron Demsky (2007), Reading Northwest Semitic Inscriptions, Near Eastern Archaeology 70/2. Quote: "The first thing to consider when examining an ancient inscription is whether it was discovered in context or not. It is obvious that a document purchased on the antiquities market is suspect. If it was found in an archeological site, one should note whether it was found in its primary context, as with the inscription of King Achish from Ekron, or in secondary use, as with the Tel Dan inscription. Of course texts that were found in an archaeological site, but not in a secure archaeological context present certain problems of exact dating, as with the Gezer Calendar."
Scholars are divided as to whether the language is Phoenician or a northern dialect of Hebrew and whether the script is Phoenician, Paleo-Hebrew, or Proto-Canaanite. Aaron Koller surmises that the language is a northern dialect of Hebrew, while Dennis Pardee proposes that it is Phoenician.Is it “Tenable”?, Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Review Spelling in the Hebrew Bible: Dahood memorial lecture, By Francis I. Andersen, A. Dean Forbes, p56
The inscription is not a formal calendar, as it describes agricultural seasons with imprecise dates, rather than precise divisions of time as would be required for a ritual or bureaucratic calendar. As such, some of the time units comprise two months rather than one, and none are referred to by the month numbers or names known from other sources.
Inscription The calendar is inscribed on a limestone plaque and describes monthly or bi-monthly periods and attributes to each a duty such as harvest, planting, or tending specific crops.
The inscription, known as KAI 182, is in Phoenician or Paleo-Hebrew script:
Which in equivalent square Hebrew letters is as follows:
This corresponds to the following transliteration, with spaces added for word divisions:
yrḥw ʾsp yrḥw z rʿ yrḥw lqš yrḥ ʿṣd pšt yrḥ qṣr šʿrm yrḥ qṣrw kl yrḥw zmr yrḥ qṣ
ʾby[h]
The text has been translated as: A couple of months (yarḥêw, in the dual) of gathering A couple of months of early sowing A couple of months of late sowing A month of making hay A month of harvesting barley A month of harvest and finishing A couple of months of vine pruning A month of summer fruit.
Abij[ah]
Possible equivalent months: October, November — in the Hebrew calendar Tishrei, Cheshvan December, January — Kislev, Tevet February, March — Shvat, Adar April — Nisan May — Iyar June — Sivan July, August — Tammuz, Av September — Elul
Scholars have speculated that the calendar could be a schoolboy's memory exercise, the text of a popular folk song or a children's song. Another possibility is something designed for the collection of taxes from farmers.
The scribe of the calendar is potentially written at the bottom of the tablet: "Abijah", meaning "Jah (a shorter form of Jehovah) is my father". This name appears in the Bible for several individuals, including a king of Judah (1 Kings 14:31). If accurate, then it could be an early attestation of the name JHVH, potentially predating the Mesha Stele.
History
The calendar was discovered in 1908 by R.A.S. Macalister of the Palestine Exploration Fund while excavating the ancient Canaanite city of Gezer, 20 miles west of Jerusalem.
The Gezer calendar is currently displayed at the Museum of the Ancient Orient, a Turkish archaeology museum,Gezer calendar Istanbul Archaeological Museums, Artifacts as is the Siloam inscription and other archaeological artifacts unearthed before World War I. A replica of the Gezer calendar is on display at the Israel Museum, Israel.
See also List of artifacts significant to the Bible List of ancient Near Eastern scribes List of languages by first written accounts Archaeology of Israel
References
Further reading Albright, W.F. "The Gezer Calendar" in Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR). 1943. Volume 92:16–26. Original description of the find. Sivan, Daniel "The Gezer calendar and Northwest Semitic linguistics", Israel Exploration Journal 48,1-2 (1998) 101–105. An up-to-date linguistic analysis of this text. Dever, William G. “Gezer”. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East vol. 2, Editor in Chief Eric M. Meyers, 396–400. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pardee, Dennis. “Gezer Calendar”. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East vol. 2, Editor in Chief Eric M. Meyers, 396–400. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.