Revisiting "Sariah" at Elephantine

Title

Revisiting "Sariah" at Elephantine

Publication Type

Journal Article

Year of Publication

2019

Authors

Rappleye, Neal (Primary)

Journal

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Pagination

1-12

Volume

32

Terms of use

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Bibliographic Citation

Abstract

Jeffrey R. Chadwick has previously called attention to the name SRYH (Seraiah/Sariah) as a Hebrew woman’s name in the Jewish community at Elephantine. Paul Y. Hoskisson, however, felt this evidence was not definitive because part of the text was missing and had to be restored. Now a more recently published ostracon from Elephantine, which contains a sure attestation of the name SRYH as a woman’s name without the need of restoration, satisfies Hoskisson’s call for more definitive evidence and makes it more likely that the name is correctly restored on the papyrus first noticed by Chadwick. The appearance of the name Seraiah/Sariah as a woman’s name exclusively in the Book of Mormon and at Elephantine is made even more interesting since both communities have their roots in northern Israel, ca. the eighth–seventh centuries bce.

Sariah
Ancient Near East
Archaeology
Elephantine
Ostracon

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