Kuntillet Ajrud

 ( Sinai Peninsula ) 

Kuntillet ʿAjrud () or Horvat Teman () is a late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE site in the northeast part of the Sinai Peninsula. It is frequently described as a shrine, though this is not certain. The Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions discovered in the excavations are significant in biblical archaeology.

Kuntillet Ajrud is in the north Sinai; carbon-14 dating indicates occupation from 801–770 BCE, and the eponymous texts may have been written c. 800 BCE. As a perennial water source in this arid region, it constituted an important station on an ancient trade route connecting the Gulf of Aqaba (an inlet of the Red Sea) and the Mediterranean. It was located only 50 kilometers from the major oasis of Kadesh Barnea. Additionally, despite its proximity to the Kingdom of Judah, it has an association with the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria): "elements of the material culture such as the pottery, the 'northern' orthography in certain inscriptions, and reference to Yahweh of Samaria suggest that Kuntillet ʿAjrud was an Israelite outpost, or at the very least, had a strong Israelite presence".

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Investigation The site then known as "Contellet Garaiyeh", was identified in 1869 by Edward Henry Palmer as "Gypsaria" on the Tabula Peutingeriana: "Our own route, however, from Contellet Garaiyeh to the ruins in Lussan, was, as may be seen from the map, within a mile or so of the distance between Gypsaria and Lysa; and our discovery at the first-mentioned place of the remains of an ancient fort, renders its identity with the third station on the list more than probable." Palmer: The desert of the Exodus Volume II, p.422–423

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Inscription The site was excavated in 1975/76 by Tel Aviv University archaeologist , and the excavation report was published in 2012. The fortress-like main building is divided into two rooms, one large and the other small, both with low benches. Both rooms contained various paintings and inscriptions on the walls and on two large water-jars ( Pithos), one found in each room.

The vigorously arguedContext of Scripture pg II:171 s 2.47 P Kyle McCarter paintings on the pithoi show various animals, stylised trees, and human figures, some of which may represent gods. They appear to have been done over a fairly considerable period and by several different artists, and do not form coherent scenes. The iconography is entirely Syrian/Phoenician and lacks any connection to the Egyptian models commonly found in Iron Age IIB Israel art.

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See also

• Khirbet el-Qom
• Asherah
• Yahweh

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Citations

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Bibliography

• G. Choi (2025). 9789652211118, Israel Exploration Society. ISBN 9789652211118
• Robert Karl Gnuse (1997). 9781850756576, Sheffield Academic Press. . ISBN 9781850756576
• Judith M. Hadley (2025). 9780521662352, Cambridge University Press. . ISBN 9780521662352
• (1998). 9780567085917, Fortress Press. . ISBN 9780567085917
• B. A. Mastin (2025). 9780567245540, Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780567245540
• Z. Meshel (2025). 9789652210883, Israel Exploration Society. . ISBN 9789652210883
• William M. Schniedewind (2025). 9781498206914, Wipf and Stock. ISBN 9781498206914
• Brent A. Strawn (2025). 9780884143475, SBL Press. . ISBN 9780884143475
• Jackie Wyse-Rhodes (2025). 9780567588289, Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9780567588289

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