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A. D. Riddle/BiblePlaces.com

EDOMITE INSCRIPTION: “I BLESS YOU BY QAUS.” A short Edomite letter written on this ostracon and dated to the early sixth century B.C.E. was found at Ḥorvat ‘Uza, a possible Edomite place of worship. Originally Ḥorvat ‘Uza was a Judahite fortress site in the eastern Negev, but it was conquered by the Edomites—likely around the time that Judah fell to the Babylonians (586 B.C.E.). This inscription opens with a salutation and then invokes a blessing by the leading Edomite deity, Qos (or Qaus). This letter instructs its recipient, probably the commander of the Edomite fort, to give its bearer some food or to send a shipment of grain.