Hebrew Names

Cuneiform sources from Babylonia are a valuable extra-biblical source for the history of the Babylonian diaspora. Onomastic data play an important role in this regard: Yahwistic and other Hebrew names begin to appear in cuneiform corpus of Babylonia shortly after the first deportation by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE. They help trace the presence of men and women from Judea or of Judean descent in Babylonia. However, identifying deported Judeans and their offspring as well as their underlying cultural background in Babylonia by their first names or patronymics is a complicated process. This chapter aims to guide the reader through the constitutive elements of Hebrew names in cuneiform script. It looks both inside and behind the names, in detailing their linguistic and cultural characteristics, typology, orthography, and semantics as well as the naming practices and socio-economic profile of their bearers. At the same time, the challenges and limitations of these processes are discussed.