How were traditions passed on in biblical times? What kind of “education” took place in ancient Israel? The recent full publication of the inscriptions from the excavations at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud provide the first complete, though fragmentary, set of elementary of scribal exercises from Ancient Israel. Together with comparable texts from cuneiform and archaeology evidence, we can reconstruct the educational curriculum of the scribes who wrote the Bible. And, we can see more clearly have this education shaped the writing of the Bible itself.

William Schniedewind is a Professor of Biblical Studies at UCLA. He has been the Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA and held the Kershaw Endowed Term Chair of Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies.

Brought to you by the Arizona Judaic Department at the University of Arizona.

Full article