Bath LMLK Inscriptions

This jar fragment, inscribed with "BT LMLK" (בת למלך), was excavated from Lachish (Level 3, H.17, Room 1078, F. No. 7066) & is interpreted as meaning that it contained a volume of one bath according to a royal standard:

This photo appears in the following publications:

"Inscriptions Reveal" by The Israel Museum
"Kedem: Studies in Jewish Archaeology" by E.L. Sukenik
"L'Epigrafia Ebraica Antica 1935-1950" by Sabatino Moscati
"Lachish III" by Olga Tufnell
PEQ 7-1941 published by The Palestine Exploration Fund
"The Alphabet Volume 2" by David Diringer

Slightly more controversial is this inscribed sherd from Nasbeh, which has been interpreted as the second known "BT LMLK" jar:

Photo & drawing from IEJ vol. 3 #2 published by The Israel Exploration Society

Half LMLK Inscriptions

This small jar, inscribed with "H$Y LMLK" (חצי למלך), was excavated from Beersheba & is interpreted as meaning that it contained a volume of one half of some other measure (probably the tenth of a bath) according to a royal standard. It's actual capacity is 1.2 litres, which would imply that a bath consisted of 24 liters:

Photo from TA vol. 2 #4 by Yohanan Aharoni

"And indeed I will give to your servants . . . 20,000 baths of wine & 20,000 baths of oil."--2Chronicles 2:10

"And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the region beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently, up to . . . 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribed limit."--Ezra 7:21-22

"Truly, many houses shall be desolate . . . For 10 acres of vineyard shall yield one bath."--Isaiah 5:10

". . .The bath contains 1/10th of a homer. . ."--Ezekiel 45:11

"And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD--since those days, . . . when one came to the wine vat to draw out 50 baths from the press, there were but 20."--Haggai 2:15-16

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This page was created on April 1, 2002, & last updated on March 22, 2008