André Lemaire (born 1942) is a French

epigrapher Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, historian and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

. He is Director of Studies at the École pratique des hautes études, where he teaches Hebraic and

Aramean The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered ce ...

philology and epigraphy. He specializes in West-Semitic old civilization and the origins of

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

. He is a corresponding member of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...

. He heads the scientific edition of the international series ''Supplements to Vetus Testamentum'' (more than 30 volumes).

King Solomon's Temple

In the 1980s, Lemaire authenticated a small, broken, carved piece of " ivory pomegranate" that dates to the 8th century and would have belonged to the cult objects of

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (), was a biblical Temple in Jerusalem believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries Common Era, BCE. Its description is largely based on narratives in the Hebrew Bible, in which it ...

. This is according to his analysis of the inscription examined with the methods of epigraphy. This interpretation was challenged by Yuval Goren of

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, who stated that the inscription is subsequent to damage that had fragmented the piece. Following this, a commission of experts from the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

examined the artifact and concluded that the inscription is a modern forgery, and that the item dates back to the 14th or the 13th century BCE, well before the time of Solomon.

"House of David"

Based on contemporary digital imaging techniques of the

Mesha Stele The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tel ...

, Lemaire and colleague Jean-Phillipe Delorme argued in 2022 that five key letters found in line 31 of the inscription can accurately be read as ''btdwd'', or "House of David", offering archaeological evidence of the existence and history of the

Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...

, its political identity, and the extent of its political hegemony.

Publications

*1971: ''Les Ministères aux origines de l'Église : Naissance de la triple hiérarchie, évêques, presbytes, diacres'', Éditions du Cerf *1974: ''Les Ministères dans l'Église'', Éditions du Centurion *1994: ''La Palestine à l'époque perse'' (with Ernest-Marie Laperrousaz), Éditions du Cerf *1999: ''Le Monde de la Bible'', Les Arènes *2001: ''Histoire du peuple hébreu'', Que sais-je?, 6th ed. *2001: ''Prophètes et rois : Bible et Proche-Orient'' (dir.), Éditions du Cerf *2002: ''Le Proche-Orient asiatique'', volume 2 (with Paul Garelli), PUF *2003: ''La Naissance du monothéisme : Point de vue d'un historien'',

Bayard presse Bayard Presse is a French press and publishing companies, being founded in 1870. The company has various media outlets both in its native France and abroad. As of 2019, it reports approximately two thousand employees, two hundred magazines with fi ...

References

External links

* André Lemaire, « Les Cananéens, le Levant et la mer �
Clio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaire, Andre French Hebraists French orientalists French philologists French epigraphers Academic staff of the École pratique des hautes études Corresponding members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1942 births Living people

King Solomon's Temple

"House of David"

Publications

See also

References

External links