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COURTESY AMIHAI MAZAR, TEL REHOV EXCAVATIONS, THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM

CURSIVE COMPONENTS. Found on a storage jar at Tel Rehov, this ninth-century B.C.E. inscription reads, “לנמש,” meaning “belonging to Nimshi.” The second and third letters display cursive features. Both the nun (נ) and mem (מ) have lengthened downstrokes. On another inscription from an earlier stratum, the mem (מ) did not have any downstroke. Cursive features develop in a script when scribes get into the habit of writing quickly.