The Potter's Deal: A Fourth Century BCE Aramaic Economic Inscription Incised on the Shoulder of a Jar

This article presents an analysis of a new, almost completely preserved Aramaic lapidary inscription incised on the shoulder of a storage jar before firing. The script utilized in this inscription displays significant similarities to known Persian-period inscriptions. Consequently, assigning this inscription to the fourth century BCE on palaeographic grounds seems plausible. This discovery is an important addition to the somewhat limited assemblage of Persian-period inscriptions documented in the southern Levant.