I agree that Lachish 3 is indicative of literacy among some professionals. How broad this was is hard to know. I’ve often wondered about the number of bullae and seals and the extent to which their owners were literate. And of course, there is always the definitional problem. What does it mean to be literate? Semi-literate? As early as 1955 A Lods claimed that the Siloam inscription was workman’s graffiti. And that view is still held by quite a few scholars today. See R. Altman, “Some Notes on Inscriptional Genres and
the Siloam Tunnel Inscription,” Antiguo Oriente, 5, 2007, 79 for a few references. And look at the Khirbet El Qom tomb inscriptions and tell me you think professional scribes or engravers wrote them. While not directly related, I think Sin-na’di’s letter to his king (Sargon II?) asking for a scribe is instructive. This letter, K 652, is, of course, in neo-Assyrian (Simo Parpola, “The Man Without a Scribe and the Question of Literacy in the Assyrian Empire,” AOAT, 247, 1997, 315-324.

I agree that the Israelites had a rather aural culture–at least by the time of Ezra. Reconstructing such a thing in the pre-exilic period becomes more troublesome, though I don’t necessarily see a reason to argue for a significant difference between the two periods.

Its interesting to consider the idea that having one to read to you would be an issue of status. I may need to do a bit more footwork on that. It seems obvious that Hoshiyahu doesn’t think so–but A) I could be reading the ostracon incorrectly and B) Lachish 3 certainly isn’t the whole story.

Perhaps you are already aware of this volume, but it may be worth a peek on this topic. It is by one of my teachers, Jim Crenshaw: Education in Ancient Israel: Across the Deadening Silence.

The evidence certainly seems to point to a quite aural culture. See, for instance, Ezra’s public re-reading of the Torah, which needs to be translated into Aramaic so the crowds will understand it to boot! I would also argue that the various Hebrew wordplays come out most effectively, at times, when the text is read aloud.

And yes, there does seem to be a certain special ‘caste’ of those who can write. There are writing prophets . . . Habakkuk, for instance.

I wonder, though, if having a letter read to you could also be less an issue of ability and more one of status. A rough comparison . . . at the end of Romans, Tertius (Paul’s scribe, presumably) introduces himself. Now, was Paul illiterate. I’m sure there are those who would say so, but based upon what I do know of Paul, I would argue quite the contrary.

And on this issue, it is always interesting for me to think about Jesus’ reading of the Isaiah text in Luke’s gospel. Was Jesus illiterate?