The Qasile Ostraca: Solomonic Shipments or Fantastic Forgeries?

ZEV RADOVAN / ALAMY

In 1945, several years before the first excavation at Tell Qasile, a visitor to the site reportedly found an inscribed potsherd (ostracon) on the surface of the mound. According to archaeologist Benjamin Mazar, the pottery sherd and its Paleo-Hebrew script dated to the First Temple period, most likely the eighth century BCE. The text reads, “Belonging to the king, one thousand and one hundred (units) of oil […]yahu.” It appears to be an invoice or order for a shipment of oil, presumably from Tell Qasile. The unit of measure is not specified, and the personal name may have been Hiyahu.

The next year, another ostracon (shown here) was found, also on the surface, reading, “Gold of Ophir belonging to Beth-Horon: 30 shekels.” This, too, is a shipment document, either from or to Beth-Horon, which Mazar identified as the twin-city of the Levites in the district of Ephraim, a store city in the days of Solomon. Even more intriguing, the gold is said to come from Ophir, the mysterious biblical region where King Solomon sourced his immense treasures (1 Kings 9:26–28; 10:11), including highly valued gold (Job 28:16; Isaiah 13:12).

If genuine, both texts represent a precious source of information about the economic and administrative history of Tell Qasile under the kingdom of Judah. Various features of the sherds, however, as well as their language and script, raise questions about their authenticity. Moreover, they are two of only three inscriptions ever found at the site, the third one (a seal) being almost certainly a modern forgery. More suspicious still, the same person was reportedly involved in the discovery of at least two and possibly all three of the inscriptions.