Literacy during the First Temple period was well developed and attests to the existence of an established administrative, legal, and religious culture in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The Bible itself serves as internal evidence for this, and moreover, it frequently mentions scribes, books, scrolls, and written documents.

In contrast, the direct archaeological evidence is extremely limited, primarily because the main writing material, Papyrus, was organic and did not survive the climatic conditions of the Land of Israel. Indirect evidence for the scale of papyrus use is found in the large number of bullae discovered in excavations, which were used to seal papyrus documents.

As a result, most archaeological knowledge of writing in the biblical period relies on inscriptions on stone and pottery, which are also relatively few. Despite their rarity, three papyri from this period are currently known, and probably an additional papyrus of Moabite origin. These finds uniquely illuminate the otherwise lost world of writing in the First Temple period.

The Murabbaʿat Cave Papyrus

In the 1950s, Roland de Vaux excavated the Murabbaʿat caves south of Qumran following looting excavations carried out by Bedouin. The most famous finds date to the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 CE) and include a corpus of letters sent on behalf of Bar Kokhba himself.

However, the assemblage also included a papyrus dated to the First Temple period (Murabbaʿat 17). Published in 1961, the papyrus shows evidence of reuse. Initially, it served for one inscription, which was later erased and replaced with a new text written upside down.

In both cases, the script is Paleo Hebrew, and its style indicates a date in the eighth or seventh century BCE. From the first inscription, the following text can be reconstructed:

In the secondary use of the papyrus, a list of four names was recorded, with a unit of volume noted next to each:

Most of the names are known from the Bible, except for “Karesan,” which likely refers to a nickname for a man with a large belly.

The document itself is probably a tax receipt, similar to the Samaria ostracae.

In retrospect, Murabbaʿat Papyrus 17 is the only First Temple period papyrus discovered in a controlled archaeological excavation.

The “Jerusalem” Papyrus

After many years in which no ancient scrolls surfaced on the antiquities market or in controlled excavations, in 2009 dealers from Bethlehem attempted to sell an ancient document. An investigation by the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Theft Prevention Unit revealed that it was a divorce document dated to the “fourth year of the destruction of the House of Israel.” Apparently, the document was from 74 CE, the fourth year of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. The unit succeeded in confiscating the scroll, but believing it to be part of a larger archive, it released the dealers in the hope that tracing them would lead to additional documents and possibly to the site from which they had been looted.

Indeed, in 2012 another fragment was offered for sale on the antiquities market. Antiquities dealer Lenny Wolfe purchased it, but the Theft Prevention Unit monitored the transaction and confiscated the papyrus that same night. According to exciting testimony by Amir Ganor, head of the unit, he was able to easily read the words “king,” “Naʿarata,” and “Jerusalem.” Radiocarbon dating showed that it dates to the seventh century BCE. Four years later, the papyrus was published, revealing the full spelling:

It became clear that this is a receipt for the delivery of “nevalim” (a unit of volume) of wine. The collector is “the king’s maid,” a woman holding a senior administrative role. The wine originated from Naʿarata, probably biblical Na’aran, and was delivered to “Yrshlmh,” Jerusalem spelled in the orthography of the First Temple period.

The document resembles ostraca found mainly in Samaria that served as receipts for wine taxes. The major novelty here is that the document is written on papyrus, and that the destination is Jerusalem.

Research by the Theft Prevention Unit suggested that the papyrus likely originated from hiding caves in the southern Judean Desert. Following the discovery, the unit initiated an emergency survey of the Judean Desert caves in order to locate additional finds before looters could reach them.

In 2025 a documentary film about the papyrus and the emergency survey was released.

The “Yishmaʿel” Papyrus

This papyrus too was not discovered in a controlled archaeological excavation, and its history raises many questions. According to the testimony of the individual who gave it to the State of Israel, it was purchased by his mother during a visit to Israel in 1965. He presented a photograph of her with the then well-known scroll dealer Khalil Iskander and the curator of the Rockefeller Museum at the time, Yusuf Saʿad. It is reasonable to assume that Yusuf Saʿad introduced her to the antiquities dealer, though this remains a hypothesis.

After her death in 2005, her son inherited the papyrus and decided to return it to the State of Israel. It was first published at an archaeological conference in Jerusalem in 2022. Radiocarbon dating showed that it dates between the eighth and sixth centuries BCE.   The text reads:

The content of the document is not entirely clear. The sender instructs Yishmaʿel to send something and warns him about ʿAkbor. In the third line he complains about something, and the fourth line refers to a certain benefit.

The “Marzeah” Papyrus

The “Marzeah” papyrus appeared on the antiquities market in 1984. Various scholars suggested that it is a forgery, but Israeli Epigraphist Sh. Ahituv considers it authentic and of Moabite origin. He interviewed a Bethlehem antiquities dealer who lamented not purchasing it when it was offered to him for 8,000 Jordanian dinars before it was opened. He was told it originated from Deir ʿAlla. He feared it was blank and declined to buy it.

Achituv’s research revealed that the papyrus was opened in the laboratories of the British Museum, and it is currently unclear which collector holds it. The inscription reads:

It is unclear within which jurisdiction the author of the divine ruling wrote, granting Saraʿ rights to the “marzeah” (=banquet?), the millstones, and the house, while excluding Yisʿaʿ. It is possible that the writer was Malka, “the trustee”, mentioned at the end of the passage.

Some Final Thoughts

The few papyri from the First Temple period discussed here constitute rare and invaluable evidence for the world of writing, administration, and communication in the biblical period. Despite their small number and the archaeological uncertainties surrounding most of them, their importance is considerable. They corroborate the picture emerging from the Bible and from the bullae evidence regarding the widespread use of written documents on papyrus.

These discoveries highlight both the limitations of archaeological preservation and the significance of research and the fight against antiquities looting. Continued research, combined with controlled excavations and emergency surveys, may lead to further discoveries that will substantially deepen our understanding of literacy and administrative culture in biblical times.

Bibliography

Ahituv, S., Klein, E., & Ganor, A. 2016. “To Jerusalem: A Seventh Century BCE Shipping Certificate.” New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region 10, pp. 239–251 (Hebrew).

Ahituv, S. 2023. Four First Temple Papyri. New Studies in the Archaeology of the Judean Desert. Collected Papers, pp. 317–331.

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