Bible Archeology Discoveries

These everyday written records reveal personal names, languages, economic activity, and religious practices in a multicultural city of Idumea. They are evidence for the population and daily life of Maresha rather than a record of a particular biblical event.

Archaeologists working at Maresha have found many pottery fragments bearing writing in Aramaic and Greek. Such inscribed fragments are called ostraca. Some record names, ownership, or the contents of vessels. Others preserve more unusual texts, including short formulas that may have been used for divination.

Maresha was a major town of Idumea in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. The inscriptions help us understand a community in which Idumean, Phoenician, Greek, and other traditions met. Not every inscription can be assigned to an Idumean writer, and the collection spans several centuries.