A new look at the epigraphic finds from Horvat Uza

The article discusses nine of the 35 inscriptions unearthed at orvat Uza, a Judahite fortress constructed in the 7th century on the southeastern border of the Beer-sheba Valley. It first suggests new readings, translations and detailed commentary of the texts and then discusses their contribution to the understanding of the military organization, administration and economy of the fortress and the role of the Negeb in the international trade of the late First Temple period. The ostraca shed new light on the movement of merchants along the southeastern Negeb- orvat Uza-Aravah Road, the manner in which the fortress obtained part of its grain, the system by which supply was recorded and the military hierarchy at the fortress in the late years of the Kingdom of Judah.