Hazor Cuneiform Tablets
Letters and law fragments from the largest Canaanite archive south of Syria
Found 1962 — Yigael Yadin's expedition (first tablet); more by Amnon Ben-Tor's team, including 2010 law-code fragments
Where Tel Hazor, Upper Galilee (Israel)
Dates from c. 1800–1300 BCE · Middle Bronze II – Late Bronze · Patriarchs through the Conquest
Now at Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and Israel Antiquities Authority storerooms
How Hazor Cuneiform Tablets was found
Found one at a time in the upper city over several decades: a liver-model omen text, letters, an economic list, and in 2010 two fragments of a law collection resembling Hammurabi's code. Hazor has produced more cuneiform documents than any other site in Israel, and the royal archive Yadin hoped to find is still sought.
What it is
About twenty small clay tablets and fragments written in Akkadian cuneiform. They include a letter mentioning a king named Ibni-Addu, a fragment of a law code, a multiplication table, and a clay liver model used by diviners.
Why it matters for the Bible
The tablets show Hazor was a literate royal city plugged into the Mesopotamian world, exactly the kind of 'head of all those kingdoms' Yehoshua 11 describes. The royal name Ibni (Yabni) is the same root as biblical Yavin (Jabin), suggesting it was a dynastic name at Hazor, which helps explain why a Jabin appears in both Joshua 11 and Judges 4. Mari letters from Syria also mention Hazor's king Ibni-Addu.
The Hebrew word: yah-VEEN
יָבִין
יָבִין is pronounced yah-VEEN and means Jabin, king of Hazor (a dynastic name) (Strong's H2985).
People this discovery connects to
- Jabin — יָבִין (yah-VEEN) — he understands
Places
- Hazor — חָצוֹר (chah-TSOR) — enclosure
Events
Kingdom of Hazor before and during the Conquest
Hazor Cuneiform Tablets in Scripture
Joshua 11:1 Jabin king of Hazor summons a coalition; Hazor's own tablets and the Mari letters name a king Ibni-Addu. (First mention of Hazor.)
Judges 4:2 Another Jabin reigns in Hazor generations later, consistent with a recurring royal name.
Questions people ask
What is Hazor Cuneiform Tablets?
About twenty small clay tablets and fragments written in Akkadian cuneiform. They include a letter mentioning a king named Ibni-Addu, a fragment of a law code, a multiplication table, and a clay liver model used by diviners.
When was Hazor Cuneiform Tablets discovered?
It was found in 1962 by Yigael Yadin's expedition (first tablet); more by Amnon Ben-Tor's team, including 2010 law-code fragments, at Tel Hazor, Upper Galilee.
Where is Hazor Cuneiform Tablets today?
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and Israel Antiquities Authority storerooms.
Which Bible verses does Hazor Cuneiform Tablets relate to?
Joshua 11:1, Judges 4:2.
Related discoveries
- מַצֵּבָהHazor Shrine of the StelaeA small Canaanite chapel with a row of standing stones and hands lifted to the moon
- רֹאשׁHazor: The Middle Bronze City Named at MariCanaan's largest city, already famous in Avraham's world
- שָׂרַף בָּאֵשׁHazor's Burned Palace and Defaced StatuesThe 'head of all those kingdoms' destroyed by fire in the 13th century BCE
- רַעַשׁHazor: Israelite Citadel and Water ShaftYadin's Omride-period fortress and the 40-metre shaft to the water table
- הֵיכָלHazor Orthostat Temple (Area H)A three-room Canaanite temple whose plan foreshadows Solomon's
- שַׁעַרSix-Chambered Gates of Hazor, Megiddo and GezerThree matching city gates and the debate over who built them
Sources
- W. Horowitz & T. Oshima, Cuneiform in Canaan (IES, 2006)
- Wikipedia: Tel Hazor (cuneiform finds)