Some Paleographic Success Stories

Readers of Rogerson and Davies’s Biblical Archaeologist article on the Siloam Inscription might well conclude that paleography has no scientific basic. But that is not the case at all. Not only is paleography a useful and accurate tool, but its results are supported by external evidence.

Consider the following three success stories:

Carbon 14 datings of Dead Sea Scrolls have confirmed the dates assigned to them by paleographers. In one radiocarbon dating, for example, the scholars who published the results of the test conclude: “Our research put to test both radiocarbon method and paleography; seemingly, both disciplines have fared well.”¹