The following is a paper I wrote at JUC summarizing the arguments for and against a fully literate Israelite society. Please feel free to disagree and add your own perspectives. Enjoy!
Introduction
The degree of literacy among the ancient Israelite populace remains a subject of debate among scholars. Within the Biblical narrative, people of diverse cultural and occupational backgrounds are noted to have read or wrote documents. A band of experts on paleographic studies suggest literacy was, at the very least, prevalent among the masses during the late Judean monarchy. Based on economic factors, societal conditions, and technology, other scholars adopt a minimalist approach for rampant literacy during the Biblical era. Many scholars today position their theories of Israelite literacy on the distribution Hebrew epigraphic finds. This paper will discuss the varying perspectives of scholars concerning the literacy competency of the wider population during the Biblical period. Theoretical considerations influencing the spread, or lack thereof, of literacy, epigraphic analysis, standards of literacy, and Biblical mention of reading and writing will be weighed in the course of this essay.
Definition of Literacy
How do we define literacy in antiquity? What we perceive in the 21st century as “functional literacy” may acquiesce to a different barometer than literacy standards in ancient Israel. Literacy in oral cultures may be predicated on the ability to use language in a sophisticated manner. Still others presuppose literacy necessitates a high linguistic aptitude in reading and writing. Rollston proposed a three tiered classification system for literacy levels among ancient Israelites. First he interpreted the term “literacy” as: “a substantial facility in a writing system, that is, the ability to write and read, using and understanding a standard script, a standard orthography, a standard numeric system, conventional formatting and terminology, and with minimal errors (of composition or comprehension).” People in ancient Israelite society who possessed these capabilities were considered “literate.” Excluded from this camp are those who can write their name on a contract, yet possess no capacity to read or write at a reasonably functional level. Semiliterate people were those who could read with moderate competence and read and write simple words. Third, Rollston admits there are variations in the aforementioned categories, but the data does not exist for us to make accurate assumptions about the gradients in these aberrations.
Societal Factors Contributing to Literacy
William Harris attempted to evaluate the prevalence of lexical education in the Greco-Roman world, leading him to question the assumed favorable literacy estimates. He argued certain societal preconditions must be met before for the diffusion of literacy among a mass population occurs. For instance, technology must be available to produce a vast number of inexpensive texts. Without the printing press, no incentive to read among the general population remains. Secondly, a network of extant schools funded by the state or a religious institution is essential to high literacy rates. Harris claims no society can achieve a majority percentage of literacy among its constituents without a structured school system. Economic complexity also encourages a large segment of the population to acquire a level of literacy. In order to exchange goods or sign and read contracts and/or receipts, participating parties must have a functioning level of literacy. Finally, a ubiquitous ideology for economic, religious, or philanthropic purposes must view literacy as a worthwhile endeavor. Based on his criteria, Harris concluded the majority of people in the ancient societies were illiterate.
How did Israelite society measure up to Harris’ standards? It goes without saying Israel did not have a printing press, making it virtually impossible to mass produce texts. Additionally, Warner conjectured that “the availability and type of writing materials in Israel had an adverse effect upon its literacy rate.” The lack of machinery to produce texts on a wide scale and sub-par writing implements and materials may explain the dearth of texts discovered at archeological excavations in the land of Israel.
To Harris’ second point, debate among scholars continues concerning the prominence of schools among Israelite society in antiquity. If these schools did exist, no evidence remains to indicate they ventured to educate the masses. Lemaire thought otherwise. He claimed during the monarchy of Judah, considerable school systems were in place that developed from the earlier monarchy. These schools originally were delegated for professional scribes but eventually the curriculum was expanded to include the general public. Lemaire based his theory upon Deut. 6:6-9, and inscriptions he presumed to be random sketches from school children. Golka’s hypothesis ran counter to Lemaire based on sociological objections. Golka stressed the stages of political and cultural development in Egyptian and Israelite society in the 10th BCE and called for a comparison between Israel’s early monarchy to that of the Egyptian Old Kingdom, where all education occurred in the home. Thus, Golka was convinced that schools did not exist during monarchic Israel. Jamieson-Drake rationalized the Old Hebrew alphabet was easy enough that one person could pass alphabetic knowledge on to another, making schools unnecessary.
There are implications schools existed during the early Biblical era at three different sites. A 13th BCE bilingual dictionary found at Ashkelon displays a word for word translation from Sumerian to Canaanite. Someone with a working knowledge of Cuneiform and Canaanite must have been present to teach the author or the writer inscribed it alone. Aphek yielded a Late Bronze Age fragment of a trilingual dictionary in Akkadian, Sumerian, and Canaanite that described the names of liquids. A Judges Era abecedary from ‘Izbet Sartah appears to display a rudimentary written alphabet probably scribed by a child learning his/her Alef-Bet-Dalet’s. Despite these significant finds, we have no unequivocal evidence of an established school at these sites. Furthermore, all the sites are located outside Israelite territory during the Late Bronze Age. We can surmise the potential of small scale academic institutions related to the Canaanite language based on the aforementioned finds. Perhaps this idea of small scale academic institutions was adopted in later periods of Israelite history, as Lemaire suggests.
The extent of economic activity in ancient Israel remains questionable. According to the Biblical account, Israel’s economy, at least during the Conquest and Judges periods, was not conducted on a large scale and likely remained localized. The largely agrarian society ascribed minimal importance to literacy skills. Only during the establishment of David’s kingdom and Solomon’s expansion do we see economic affluence infiltrate the land of Israel with references to the great wealth of Solomon. Perhaps literacy rates may have increased during the reigns of David and Solomon, opening the door for literacy to proliferate and trickle down to the later Iron Age II period.
Importance of the Alphabet
By the 10th BCE, the alphabet was invented opening the doorway for the common person to gain the ability to read and write. The invention of the alphabet by the Canaanites may have had a transformative effect on literacy rates among the early Israelites. During the 9th BCE, the Canaanite alphabet became the official script of the ancient Near East. Goldwasser claims the Canaanite alphabet was a monumental revolution in the world of literacy. This style of communication simplified older versions of writings integrating less than 30 signs and only a handful of grammatical rules associating signs with sounds. Literacy was no longer relegated to elite scribes. Now, the average member of society could access knowledge in order to read and write. Albright also supports this notion when he stated “since the forms of the letters are very simple, the 22- letter alphabet could be learned in a day or two by a bright student and in a week or two by the dullest.” His strong position is accentuated by his theory that many were literate as early as the period of the Judges.
More recent scholars take a conservative approach. Rollston insists we exercise pause when making assumptions about the simplicity of the Canaanite alphabet system and the expedited pace at which one could acquire a fluid knowledge. His case is supported by studies in modern language acquisition. Essentially, language proficiency transpires in a series of stages over the course of years, not days or weeks. Thus, Rollston considers any argument for pervasive literacy based on the simplicity of learning an alphabet problematic.
Official vs. Popular Literacy
Wright dissected Biblical literacy into two categories: official and popular. Demsky elaborated on this idea, also citing two categories of literacy during the Biblical era. A scribal class that comprised no more than 5% of the population wrote for their own professional needs or enjoyment. They belonged to a closed society while learning in a structured environment. Royal scribes were responsible for record keeping, managing international and local affairs, communicated political truth (i.e. propaganda), read documents to the king, and wrote letters on his behalf.
Popular literacy included a literate society with the potential for more widespread literacy. Demsky claims Iron Age Israel “was a literate society characterized by a national literature and a growing number of nonprofessional literate people, particularly from the eighth century onward.” He bases his conclusion on epigraphic evidence. (1) In the 8th BCE to 6th BCE, Judahite seals were generally designed without iconographic motifs and were replaced with writing. Assuming the seal served an administrative function and aesthetics were a non-issue, supplanting a symbols with words hints at a flourishing literate society. (2) Some inscriptions from the Iron Age era contain a vulgar script, likely not used by well-educated people (Gibeon jar handles and graffiti from Kh. Beit Lei and Kh. El-Qom). (3) Discovered inscriptions display material purposefully written by and for farmers and craftsmen (Samaria ivories). Potters, ivory joiners, and craftsman began to implement writing into their fields. Also, epigraphic evidence suggests vine dressers were becoming increasingly literate. (4) The Prophets wrote down their prophecies in hopes of promoting their message. Their writings sought to close the gap between a literate group and a lay audience. (5) The critique of writing is also an indicator of a literate society (Is. 10:1; Jer. 8:8). All these point to popular literacy being mainstream or at least beginning to take root in Iron Age I.
Biblical examples also highlight a moderate to high level of popular literacy during the Iron Age II period. (1) Prophets wrote to popularize their message among the masses, assuming others possessed a basic level of literacy (Jer. 25:26; 51:1). (2) Sharp criticism of the royal scribe’s misappropriation of writing and their misuse of power is emphasized (Is. 10:1-2; Jer. 8:8). (3) Changes in transactions begins to occur, such as written contracts instead of binding oral agreements (Jer. 32:10-14 stands in contradistinction to Gen. 23 and Ruth 4:1-11). In addition, personal signatures are recorded by scribes instead of lists of names (Jer. 32:12; Neh. 10:1-28).
Significant Epigraphic Evidence
Another method of ascertaining literacy levels is through Hebrew epigraphic material. A wide distribution of inscriptions have led scholars to formulate liberal estimates of widespread literacy. Moreover, the large number of seal impressions testify to a wider group of merchants, landowners, or religious personnel outside of governmental officials who could read these letters to identify the seals. The most plentiful examples of Hebrew writings stem from the 7th BCE and early 6th BCE and are largely comprised of short messages written in ink on potsherds, better known as ostraca. These inscriptions have been discovered in a variety of contexts. Major towns like Jerusalem and Lachish and military settlements such as Arad and Aroer contain ostraca.
Stone seals are the most common objects found incised with the owner’s name and usually accompanied with the father’s name. They are typically found in burials and settlements, along with one discovered at a farm in the Buqei’ah valley. Stone weights are another class of seals created during this during Iron Age II with shekel values were incised into the stone using words. Random graffiti in tombs (Khirbet el-Qom, Khirbet Beit Lei) also attest to common people possessing the ability to write. All these date to the last 150 years of Judah’s history. The Samaria Ostraca, dated to 775 to 750 BCE, displays the work of record keepers but outside of this find, few Hebrew texts exist that can be dated before 700 BCE. One exception is the site of Khirbet Qeiyafa. Ganor and Garfinkel unearthed an ostraca with Hebrew script dated to the 10th BCE. The Tel Zayit abecedary appears to stem from the late 10th BCE to early 9th BCE. The Gezer Calendar, also from the 10th BCE, signifies a knowledge of writing in ancient Israel but is not written in a Hebrew script.
Biblical Evidence
Throughout the Bible, reading, writing, and books are frequently mentioned. Moses writes God’s covenant with Israel (Ex.24:4), Israel’s wanderings from Egypt to Canaan (Num. 33:2), his song (Dt. 31:25), and Torah (Dt. 31:9). Other laws were written by God (Ex. 32:16; 34:1 4). Important religious leaders and prominent Biblical characters also read and wrote: Joshua (Josh. 1:8; 24:26), Samuel (1 Sam. 10:25), David (2 Sam. 11:14), Jezebel (1 Kings 21:8), the king of Damascus (2 Kings 5), and Jehu (2 Kings 10).
Known literacy rates for kings in the Bible remains elusive. Kings may have had the ability to read and write for themselves but scribes may have acted on their behalf. The Book of the Law that was found in the Temple was read by Shaphan to Josiah (2 Kings 22:10). Jehudi read Jeremiah’s prophecies to Jehoiakim (Jer. 36:20-26). Though Jeremiah was not a king, he summoned Baruch to write for him (Jer. 36:4). Esther 8:8-9 depicts the Persian king ordering royal scribes to write for Esther and Mordecai. Being read to and delegating a scribe to write for someone of royal ilk may have been a routine practice and says little about the literacy level of the recipient. Ashurbanipal (7th BCE) boasted about his level of literacy and his proficiency in reading Akkadian, perhaps insinuating he was one of a select few rulers who could read and write. Thus, official scribes likely read to kings and wrote for them in the distant past. On the other hand, Deut. 17:18-19 portrays future kings as being literate entities, charging them to copy and read Torah for themselves.
The Bible also assumed a basic familiarity with writing among the ordinary citizen. A certificate of divorce was expected to be written by a man divorcing his wife (Deut. 24:1-3; Is. 50:1; Jer. 3:8). The Sh’ma expresses that Torah was to be written on the doorposts of houses and on city gates (Deut. 6:9; 11:20). The nation of Israel at large was commanded to write Torah on stones after they crossed the Jordan River (Deut. 27:2-3, 8). Inscribed monuments were billboards for travelers passing by (Josh. 8:30-35), intimating a commoner could decipher what was written on the stone.
Conclusion
A segment of academics today and years past advocate for a high literacy rate among the common citizenry beginning in the 8th BCE and reaching its zenith in 6th BCE. Scholars such as Albright, Goldwasser, Cross, and Hess make over generalizations about literacy based on a facile alphabet and sporadic inscriptional treasures. Other scholars such as Rollston are more judicious in their approach to interpreting epigraphic relics, noting caution must be exercised when contending non-elites were literate based on the cumulative data of discovered abecedaries. Harris draws sweeping accusations about literacy within his framework of societal preconditions that leads him down a rigid road of illiterate universalism in the ancient world. The Bible provides minimal documentation of ordinary people reading and writing. At the very least, we can reasonably assume many of the aristocrats of Biblical antiquity achieved reading and writing skills-most notably the class of royal scribes and governmental officials. What we are left wanting is the nature of literacy amongst the rank and file of the proletariat. Positions on both sides of the fence raise compelling arguments but, barring a colossal treasury of inscriptions detailing an appraisal of literacy, we are left to merely conjecture about the true nature of literacy in ancient Israel.
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