Gezer Calendar - Agricultural Almanac

גֶּזֶר לוּחַ

  The Gezer calendar is the oldest known Hebrew inscription, it dates from the 10th century BC, therefore, from the time of the kings David and Solomon.

  It records the main agricultural activities of each month as the sowing, harvesting and grape harvest, offering a pattern of the everyday life of the Israelites, and is also a useful indication for modern scholars, of the script and language in that period.

  The text consists of seven lines plus the word Abijah on the margin, which is probably the name of the scribe, and means Yah is my Father. (יָה Yah stands for יָהוּה Yahúh, a name that God gave Himself in front of Moses).

  It is drafted like a popular song; its format and technique belong to the oral culture, showing that the sequence of the flax and barley corresponds to that in Exodus 9:31and 32, which read: “The flax and barley were destroyed, because the barley had gleaned and flax had sprouted, but the grain and spelt are belated and were not destroyed”.

  The name given to the calendar regards the place where it was found, the ancient city of Gezer (גֶּזֶר), whose remains, about 30km northeast of Jerusalem, and are now known by the name of Tel Gezer.

  These are its archaeological site and topographic map: