Literate Women in the Late Judean Monarchy

The growing number of epigraphic finds inscribed on shards and engraved on stone personal seals from the 8^th century BCE that were written by or for women has to be considered in any study of the social changes in the Israelite/Judean monarchy. In particular they are essential for understanding the spread of literacy at that time. We assume that these women were members of the upper class having property rights and legal status to hold and dispense of goods. They were not professional scribes but as women of substance they acquired the medium of writing as an aspect of their changing social independence. These extra biblical documents will be viewed in light of the biblical narrative and wisdom literature that impact on the education of women and on gender studies.