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Zev Radovan

Inscriptions, both written on potsherds and found in a temple at Ekron, provide evidence of Philistine religious practice and highlight cultural interactions between the Philistines and their neighbors. One inscription consists of only two words: qdš, literally “holy” (shown here), and l’šrt, “to Asherat” or “dedicated to Asherat,” a Canaanite goddess. The letters of the inscription, however, are formed in Phoenician style. In a brief, two-word inscription we see the influence of two neighboring cultures on Philistine Ekron.