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COURTESY OF THE LEON LEVY DEAD SEA SCROLLS DIGITAL LIBRARY, ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY / PHOTO: SHAI HALEVI

MYSTERIOUS MARKINGS. Analysis of the inscription on the stone mug revealed that some of the incised letters resemble those of the so-called Cryptic A script known from the Dead Sea Scrolls, including this 5-inch fragment that is part of a calendrical text (4Q317, also known as 4QcryptA Lunisolar Calendar). The obscure script uses altered letterforms or even entirely different symbols to write the Hebrew alphabet, perhaps for the purpose of encoding privileged or secret information.