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TOMBOIY
terwards.AnotherresultofthischronologicalreconstructionwasthatLW50probablywas
aposthumousdateandthisisexplainedbytheuseofthesameAlexanderEraproposedby
OppertforBabylonia.ThedatesproposedbyHaussoullierin1924haveneverbeenchal-
lengedbylaterstudiesoftheLydianinscriptions.Theadditionalinformationavailablefor
Babyloniainthemeantimemakesitclearthatthisexplanationcannotbeacceptedanymore
andwethereforeproposeanewanalogywiththeBabyloniansourcesandtodatetheLydian
inscriptionsaswedotheBabyloniantabletstoday:accordingtoAlexander,sMacedonian
regnalyears.15ThismeansthatLW3(AlexIII.05)istobedatedin332/331BCandLW50
(AlexIII.12)in325/324BC.AlexIII.05or332/331BC,whichwasimpossibleforBabylonia
becauseatthattimeDariusIIIwasstillrulingthisregion,isnoproblemforLydiabecause
AlexanderhadalreadyconqueredLydiain334BC.
AsfarastheAramaicdocumentsareconcernedseveralnewdocumentshavecometo
lightrecently.WefirsthavetopayattentiontothelargeamountofAramaicostracaoriginat-
ingfromIdumaeathatappearedontheantiquitiesmarketrecently.Theywereallcomposed
intheLateAchaemenidorearlyHellenisticperiodandprobablybelongtotheadministra-
tionofaroyalstorehouseinMaqqedah(Khirbetel-Kōm;seeLemaire1999:1,21).Asfor
thedatingthenameofthemonthisnormallyindicatedandtheregnalyearalsoappears
regularly.Thenameofthekingontheotherhandisonlyinaminorityofthesetextsavail-
able;probablybecauseoftheverytemporarycharacterofostracathescribedidnotfeelthe
needtoindicatethenameoftherulingkingsinceitwasalltooself-evidentforthem.The
nameofkingAlexanderdoesappearfromtimetotimeandtheregnalyearsconnectedto
thisnameare2and5.ThefirsttwovolumesoftheseIdumaeanostracawerepublishedal-
mostsimultaneouslyin1996.Ephcal/Naveh(1996)interpreted„kingAlexander”asAlexan-
derIV,thesonofAlexandertheGreat,onthebasisofacomparisonwiththecontemporary
Babylonianevidence.Lemaire,theeditoroftheothervolume(Lemaire1996)ontheother
handpreferredtoidentify„kingAlexander”withAlexandertheGreathimself.Heintro-
ducedalocalyear-countingsystemforPalestinestartingwithAlexIII.01from332/331BC
onwards,whenAlexandertheGreatconqueredtheregionafterthebattleatIssosandwhen
hewasonhiswaytoEgypt.16SinceonlyAlex.02andAlex.05areattested,thislocaltheory
doesnotmeanthatposthumousdateswereintroducedaswasthecaseforthetheoryoflocal
year-countingsystemsinBabyloniaandLydiaabove.TojustifyhistheoryLemaireinvoked
ananalogywithEgyptiansourceswhereAlexIII.01wasalsointroducedfromthemoment
AlexandertheGreatconqueredthecountry.
AnothernewAramaicsourceconcerningthereignofAlexanderalsoappearedonthe
antiquitiesmarketrecentlyundertheformofaleatherdocumentoriginatingfromBactria
(Afghanistan).Thisfindhasnotyetbeenfullypublished,butapreliminarydescription
showsapartialphotographandcontainsapartialtranslationofthetextdatedtoAlexander
(Shaked2004:17and53).ThetextmentionsthedateAlex.07.03.15.Theeditorinterprets
thisdateas9June324BCandheexplainsthatthisconversionwasmadeonthebasisofthe
tablesinParker/Dubberstein(1956).ThismeansthatheplacedAlex.01in330/329BC,the
yearafterAlexanderdefeatedDariusIIIatGaugamela.Ithastobestressedagainherethat
atthetimeParkerandDubbersteincompiledtheirtablesitwasacceptedthattheBabylon-
iansdatedintwodifferentwaysduringAlexander,slifetime(accordingtohisMacedonian
regnalyearsandhisBabylonianregnalyears,seeParker/Dubberstein1956:19).Alexander,s
15Foracompleteoverviewoftheyear-countingsysteminLydiansources,seeBoiy2005.
16Onlocalyear-counting,seebelow.
