474 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



6, fig. 1). Below the inscription is a beautifully carved horned ram, 

 \vhich seems to be Syrian in style. In front of the ram seems to be 

 the figure of a man. It cannot definitely be proved that the YTM of 

 the seal is the very king Jotham (c. 740-736 B. C.) of Judah, whose 

 dominion included also Elath, but the likelihood is a strong oi»e. 

 In all events, it is quite appropriate that during the period of Judaean 

 control over Elath extending throughout the reigns of Uzziah, 

 Jotham, and the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, the Hebrew name 

 of Jotham should be found, while during the Edomite rule of Period 

 IV, the Edomite name of Qausanal should occur, as we shall see (pi. 

 6, fig. 2). 



After the settlement of Period III had been destroyed by a terrific 

 conflagration, a completely new industrial village was built over its 

 ruins. This settlement of Period IV was Edomite. Its history can 

 be divided into three clear subperiods. The history of Period IV, 

 extended from about the end of the eighth century B. C. to about 

 the end of the sixth century B. C. The new industrial village con- 

 tinued, like that of Period III, to use the system of fortifications 

 that had been erected in Period II. Industrial operations continued 

 on a fairly extensive scale. It is to the first phase of Period IV, 

 which probably extended well down into the seventh century B. C. 

 tliat we now assign the jars discovered in the previous season of 

 excavations, stamped with a royal seal in ancient Hebrew-Edomite 

 characters reading: "Belonging to Qausanal, the Servant of the 

 King." It is thus now possible archeologically to fix a date for 

 the Qausanal seal impressions which harmonizes with the one 

 proposed for them by Albright on the basis of epigraphy alone. 

 Qausanal is a typical Edomite name, the first part of which, Quas. 

 is the name of a well-known Edomite and then Nabataean deity.^' 

 Et seems likely that this Qausanal, who was probably an Edomite, 

 was the officer commanding the district of Elath, and was the 

 representative ("servant") of the Edomite king of the time. 



Belonging to Period IV are the fragments of a large jar, on two 

 pieces of which were incised the first ancient South Arabic letters 

 ever discovered in a controlled excavation (pi. 7, fig. 1). Ryckmans 

 considers these letters to belong to the Minaean script."* The 

 Minaeans are reputed by Pliny to be the oldest known commercial 

 people in South Arabia, controlling the Incense Koute and mono- 

 polizing the trade in myrrh and frankincense. It has been possible 

 since the discovery of those fragments to put them together, and 



^ Glueck, Nelson, The third season of excavation at Tell BI-Kheleifeh. Bull. Amer, 

 Schools Oriental Res., No. 79, p. 13, October 1940. 



-*■ Ryckmana, G., Un fragment de jane avec caracteres mingens 9. Tell El-Kheleifeh. Rev. 

 Bibl., vol. 48, pp. 247-249, 1939 ; Glueck, Nelson, The first campaign at Tell El-Kheleifeh 

 (Ezion-Geber). Bull. Amer, Schools Oriental Res., No. 71, pp. 15-16, October 1938. 



