Did Northern Scribes Help Write the Bible?

Remains of King Hezekiah’s Great Wall, built in the late 8th century BC to enclose Jerusalem’s newly settled Western Hill. Lever Golgar / CC BY-SA 2.5 Generic.

In the late 8th century BCE, the Assyrian Empire carried out a series of military campaigns that devastated the northern kingdom of Israel. The invaders drove away many refugees in Judah and its capital city, Jerusalem, with many resettling in Judah and its capital city, Jerusalem. The new inhabitants of Judah undoubtedly came from all walks of life: farmers, laborers, artisans, and even writers who worked at the royal court. In his article entitled “Sumerian Psalms in the Court of King Hezekiah,” published in Fall 2025. A Review of Biblical ArchaeologyWilliam M. Schneidwind investigates the available evidence to find out who these Kalams were and what their lives might have been like in the growing capital.

Schneidwind begins by examining the population boom in Judah in the late eighth century. He notes that the influx of northern refugees may explain certain aspects of biblical literature: the traditions about the 12 tribes, and especially the accounts of the northern kings, interrupt the Hebrew Bible even though only the southern kingdom and its capital survived the military attacks of the Assyrian Empire. Such information would likely have been brought to the destruction of the North by witnesses whose expertise would have been invaluable in the Jerusalem court.

Download the eBook

From an archaeological perspective, Schneidwand points to a dramatic increase in the size and population of Jerusalem itself in the late eighth century. On the west hill of the city, sparsely populated in the early periods and located outside the city walls, a large number of houses were hastily constructed. This led King Hezekiah of Judah to build an extensive circuit wall to surround the western hill, even demolishing some of the new construction to make room for the wall.

One of King Hezekiah’s famous building projects, the Siloam Tunnel, which took water from the Gihon Spring on the east side of the city to a pool inside the walls, may have been dug by a team that included northern refugees among its workers. The Shneid Wind highlights a number of features in the Salome Tunnel inscription – it has traveled a short distance into the tunnel near its southwest end, and is now located in the Istanbul Museum. The allusion is to a northern approach: it omits any mention of a king, and for example, and uses typical linguistic forms of Hiberat.

Turning his attention to the Shakani evidence, Schneidwind points out that we have access to a number of northern conventions used in personal names. For example, Qasr Kefix YW- And -ywpronounced “yao/yu-/jo” and “yao” respectively, are known from the Samaritan ostraca, an important group of inscriptions found in Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom, which was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire. These associations are important because in the southern kingdom of Judah, there were typical forms YHW-“It’s—,” and – yhw“-yahoo.” Consequently, when short forms appear in Judah’s inscriptions, it likely indicates the presence of northerners.

An important part of our website, blog and email newsletter Society of Biblical ArchaeologyNonprofit Educational Mission

It will cost a lot of money and resources, but we don’t charge you 100% to cover any of these costs.

If you’d like to help make it possible for us to continue Bible history daily, biblicalarchaeology.org, and our email newsletter, please donate. Even $5 helps:

A particularly striking example comes from the various seal impressions left on jar handles and other wares by a northern writer named Manaham son of Yaubanah. More than a dozen impressions of this figure have been discovered around Jerusalem. In fact, as Schneidwind notes, “We know of no other person who has not left so many seal impressions in such diverse locations.” Mannheim must have been not only a trained and experienced scribe, but a great asset to the administrative apparatus of Jerusalem.

Most importantly, the three different seals Manham used have different spellings of his patronymic (father’s name). One, in characteristic northern fashion, conjures it up ywbnh“Yawbanah,” with the recognizable YW- The former seems to shorten this element even further by a second, as a result YBNHprobably. Pronounced as “Yaubnah” or “Yubnah”. The third example is particularly telling: it appears that letters YBNH Earlier it was engraved in seals and letters h And W The second was squeezed-in a somewhat garbled version of the Judaic spelling of the name: WYHBNHa close of “Jehovanah”.

This adaptation in the spelling of Mannheim’s father’s name suggests that the northerners who came to Judah may have sought to adapt and assimilate to their new environment after fleeing the superior armies of the Assyrian Empire. It is likely that at least some aspects of northern culture and identity would have disappeared within just a few generations. According to Schneidwind, according to the biblical text, while King Hezekiah was quite receptive to the newcomers, subsequent kings were not necessarily so: for example, King Josiah showed some hostility to the newcomers. The refugees no doubt faced numerous challenges, and Judah may have a way of alleviating their social struggles after settling into their new lives.

For more information on the northern refugees, their flight before the Assyrian Empire, and the evidence for their presence in the southern kingdom of Judah, read the article “Samaritan Refugees in the Court of King Hezekiah” by William M. Schneewind. A Review of Biblical Archaeology.

Customers: Read the full article, “The Samaritan Refugees in King Hezekiah’s Court,” by William M. Schneidwind, Fall 2025. A Review of Biblical Archaeology.

No a BAS Not yet a library or All Access member? Join today.

In related reading Bible History Daily

10 Things to Know About the Assyrian Empire

Telly Hadid’s Refugees

Looking for the 12 tribes of Israel

Sennacherib’s siege of Lachish

Hezekiah’s memorial inscription?

Ancient Samaria and Jerusalem

All Access Members, read more at BAS Library

The Samaritans wrote in the court of King Hezekiah

Who were the Assyrians?

A grim Assyrian record of torture and death

Israelis in exile

Sennacherib’s Siege of Jerusalem: Once or Twice?