[Page 1]Abstract: Jeffrey R. Chadwick has previously called attention to the name ŚRYH (Seraiah/Sariah) as a Hebrew woman’s name in the Jewish community at Elephantine. Paul Y. Hoskisson, however, felt this evidence was not definitive because part of the text was missing and had to be restored. Now a more recently published ostracon from Elephantine, which contains a sure attestation of the name ŚRYH as a woman’s name without the need of restoration, satisfies Hoskisson’s call for more definitive evidence and makes it more likely that the name is correctly restored on the papyrus first noticed by Chadwick. The appearance of the name Seraiah/Sariah as a woman’s name exclusively in the Book of Mormon and at Elephantine is made even more interesting since both communities have their roots in northern Israel, ca. the eighth–seventh centuries BCE.
In 1993, Jeffrey R. Chadwick noted the appearance of the Hebrew name ŚRYH (שריה), typically rendered Seraiah in English, as a woman’s name on an Aramaic papyrus from Elephantine and dated to the fifth century BCE.1 As also pointed out by Chadwick, Nahman Avigad has argued that the Hebrew name ŚRYH(W) should be rendered as Saryah(u), rather than the usual Serayah(u) — which would make the English spelling Sariah instead of Seraiah.2 Thus, according to Chadwick, the attestation [Page 2]of ŚRYH as a Hebrew female name at Elephantine provides strong supporting evidence for the appearance of a Hebrew woman named Sariah in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi, headnote; 2:5; 5:1, 6; 8:14).3
Paul Y. Hoskisson, however, urged caution about this evidence since the papyrus in question (Cowley-22) has a lacuna requiring restoration of both the final hē (ה) in ŚRYH and the bet- resh (בר) of the Aramaic word brt (ברת), “daughter,” which is the key indication that the individual in question is a woman.4 Thus, Hoskisson cautioned, “restorations cannot provide absolute proof but rather at best a suggestion.”5 He considered it a good sign that “other scholars accept the possible existence of this feminine name in relative temporal proximity to the beginnings of the Book of Mormon,” but Hoskisson ultimately felt “a clear-cut example of the name for a female would be more helpful.”6
Chadwick argued, however, that “the comparative context of the papyrus leaves little doubt that the reconstruction is accurate,” and it is really “the extant final t” of brt that “assures us that the person was [Page 3]a daughter, not a son.”7 In the most recently published translation and transcription of this papyrus, Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni would seem to agree. In their hand-drawing of the Cowley-22 papyrus (see Figure 1),8 they represented the restoration of the final hē (ה) in ŚRYH and the bet-resh (בר) of brt as being “nearly certain.”9

Figure 1. Left: Illustration of Cowley-22, by Jasmin G. Rappleye, based on the drawing by Ada Yardeni in Textbook of Aramaic Documents 3:227 and foldout 32. Right: Same image, with śryh brt, “Seraiah (Sariah) daughter of,” highlighted. The “hollow strokes” used to represent the restored portions indicate that the restorations are considered “nearly certain.”
Nonetheless, new evidence that completely satisfies Hoskisson’s call for a more “clear-cut” example has been found. Porten and Yardeni [Page 4]document ŚRYH as a Hebrew feminine name not once, but twice among the Aramaic documents at Elephantine.10 A list of names on an ostracon found there, dated to the second half of the fifth century BCE, includes śryh brt […] ([…]שריה ברת), “Seraiah daughter of […].”11 The name of Seraiah’s (or Sariah’s) parent is broken off, but both “Seraiah” (śryh) and “daughter” (brt) are attested in full,12 thus providing an undeniable example of ŚRYH as a female name (see Figure 2).
This would seem to meet Hoskisson’s demands for more “clear cut” evidence. Furthermore, this clear attestation of ŚRYH as a female name at Elephantine provides reassuring evidence that Cowley-22, which comes from the same period, is indeed restored correctly as “Seraiah, daughter of Hosea.”
In light of Lehi’s ancestors coming from northern Israel (1 Nephi 5:14, 16), ca. 720 bce,13 it is also interesting to note that, according to Karel van der Toorn, the Jewish community at Elephantine ultimately has its roots in northern Israel, ca. 700 bce.14 After surveying the evidence from deity names in the Aramaic texts, van der Toorn concludes, “the entire picture of the religious life at Elephantine and Syene strongly suggest that the historical core of the communities came from Northern Israel.” He [Page 5]further notes “the emigrants from Northern Israel would have entered Egypt by way of Judah” and suspects “some of them stayed in Judah for a significant length of time” before migrating to Egypt sometime in the seventh century bce.15 Therefore, the founders of the Elephantine community were likely contemporaries of Lehi or his parents and were similarly Israelites of northern stock who initially settled in Judah.
These details add to the significance of these two references to women named ŚRYH (Seraiah/Sariah) at Elephantine. In both the Hebrew Bible and the epigraphic evidence from Judah, ŚRYH(W) is only attested as a male’s name.16 While this could simply be due to the limitations of [Page 6]our available data set,17 it is also possible the attestation of ŚRYH as a woman’s name both in the Book of Mormon and at Elephantine and only in these sources, reflects a specifically northern Israelite practice.

Figure 2. Top, left: Illustration of Elephantine Storeroom 2293, by Jasmin G. Rappleye, based on the drawing by Ada Yardeni in Textbook of Aramaic Documents 4:211. Top, right: Same image, with śryh brt, “Seraiah (Sariah) daughter of,” highlighted. Bottom: Detail of śryh brt from the ostracon.
In any case, with the certain reference to a woman named ŚRYH on an ostracon from Elephantine, there can no longer be any doubt that Seraiah/Sariah was a Hebrew woman’s name in the mid-first millennium bce.
[Page 7]Appendix: “Sariah” in Aramaic Texts from Elephantine
The following transcriptions and translations are adapted from Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt, 4 vols. (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1986–1999), 3:226–228; 4:211.
Temple Funds Contributors List
Text: Cowley-22 (C3.15), col. 1, lines 1–4
Date: ca. 419/400 BCTranscription
- זנה שמהת חילא יהודיא זי יהב כסף ליהו IIIII לפמנחתף שנת III ב
[II] אלהא לגבר לגבר כסף ש- II משל]מ[ת ברת גמר]י[ה בר מחסיה כסף ש
- II זכור ]בר אוש[ע בר זכור כסף ש
- II שרי]ה בר[ת הושע בר חרמן כסף ש
Translation
- On the 3rd of Phamenoth, year 5. This is (= these are) the names of the Jewish garrison who gave silver to YHW the God each person silver, [2] sh(ekels):
- Meshull[em]eth daughter of Gemar[ia]h son of Maḥseiah: silver, 2 sh.
- Zaccur [son of Ose]a son of Zaccur: silver, 2 sh.
- Serai[ah daught]er of Hosea son of Ḥarman: silver, 2 sh.
Storeroom Names List
Text: Elephantine Storeroom 2293 (D9.14), concave lines 1–5
Date: ca. 450–400 BCTranscription
- […]ה
- [… ח]יסל
- […]אבערש
- [… ת]יהוטל בר
- […]שריה ברת
Translation
- H[…]
- Isla[ḥ …]
- Abioresh[…]
- Jehotal daugh[ter of…]
- Seraiah daughter of[ …]
Editor’s Note: Book of Mormon Central (https://bookofmormoncentral.org/) has just published a blog post and video that are directly related to this article. See them at VIDEO: New Archaeological Evidence for Sariah as a Hebrew Woman’s Name .


Neal Rappleye is a research project manager for Book of Mormon Central. He is involved in on-going research on many facets of the Book of Mormon’s historical context, including: ancient Jerusalem (especially around the 7th century bc), ancient Arabia, the ancient Near East more broadly, pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and the 19th century witnesses to the discovery and translation of the Book of Mormon plates. He’s published with BYU Studies, The Interpreter Foundation, Book of Mormon Central, Greg Kofford Books, and Covenant Communications.
17 Comment(s)
Brant A. Gardner, 05-01-2019 at 12:21 pm
Prove? I doubt it proves anything save that the name is attested in antiquity in a similar region. Rather than wondering what it proves, consider a basketball analogy. Proving might be like scoring a basket. This is more like a blocked shot. It doesn’t change the score of the game for the defenders, but also isn’t a score for the offense.
Blocked shots don’t add to the score, but no coach would argue that they don’t matter.
Brad, 05-01-2019 at 9:50 am
I am perfectly happy to accept that Seriah was a name among a community of Aramaic-speaking Jews living in Southern Egypt under Persian rule in the fifth century BCE.
What is that supposed to prove about a Hebrew-speaking Jew named Sariah who lived roughly two centuries earlier and not in Egypt or the (then non-existent) Persian empire?
frank, 04-30-2019 at 3:09 pm
I hope Neal analyzes “Timothy” next – perhaps he has already done so!
Exiled, 04-06-2019 at 10:10 am
How do you explain “sariah” in this book circa 1822?
https://books.google.com/books?id=bNtmg_mUHpEC&pg=PA105&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false
Given this, “only” seems out of place here:
“While this could simply be due to the limitations of [Page 6]our available data set,17 it is also possible the attestation of ŚRYH as a woman’s name both in the Book of Mormon and at Elephantine and only in these sources, reflects a specifically northern Israelite practice.”
http://mormondiscussions.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51396
Replies
Bryan Thomas, 04-07-2019 at 10:34 am
It seems relatively obvious that Rappleye was referring to the Hebrew name Sariah, that it had not yet been discovered to counter the criticisms noting that Sariah was not a Hebrew (female) name. Regardless of whether the name existed in English or not, the argument was that it did not exist in Hebrew; thus, his point and discovery.
Replies
anonymous, 04-07-2019 at 1:42 pm
What criticism needed to be countered? The only thing I’ve ever seen about it comes from Mormon sources. Has it ever been used in anti-Mormon criticism?
I would also disagree with what you say seems relatively obvious. Other Mormon writers and bloggers seem to think that the name Sariah first appeared in the Book of Mormon.
“Sariah is not in The Bible but means “princess of the Lord.” It was not known anywhere outside The Book of Mormon until it was found in ancient Jewish documents from Egypt.”
https://books.google.com/books?id=kb-KDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false
“For example, the name of Lehi’s wife, Sariah, previously unknown outside the Book of Mormon”
https://www.lds.org/study/ensign/2000/01/mounting-evidence-for-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng
“The skeptic might suggest that this name was an invention of Joseph Smith, since Sariah does not appear in the Bible as a female personal name.”
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1056&context=jbms
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Levi Wixom, 04-08-2019 at 1:50 pm
That’s Rappleye’s entire point is that new evidence goes to show that Sariah was a legitimate female name. While the female version Sariah/Seraiah is not biblical, it is concurrent in Israelite/Judahite settlements. New evidence renders new conclusions, and I find Rappleye’s article helpful indeed.
The Kodi Kid, 04-07-2019 at 9:12 pm
Sure this wasn’t a boy’s name?
“Sara’s son Sariah Lashbrook’s horse was shot from under him and he was captured while serving in the Confederacy. He was taken to Camp Chase, a prison in Ohio….When she reached Camp
Chase, her son Sariah begged her to “ask him out of prison” to die.https://books.google.com/books?id=tjVPDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA282&dq=%22Sariah%22+%221700%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-o-3Cwb_hAhXKxVQKHcQwDJ4Q6AEIPTAD#v=onepage&q=%22Sariah%22&f=false
Replies
anonymous, 04-09-2019 at 3:24 am
Using the 19th Century US census I find it as both a boy’s name and a girl’s name. The use for girls is much higher than for boys. Also I find it in use as a girls name prior to 1830.
Jeff Lancaster, 10-30-2019 at 12:11 pm
SRYH, daughter of Hosea. Daughters tend to be girls.
Elliott Jolley, 04-12-2019 at 9:41 am
The question that brother Rappleye’s article is attempting to answer is: Was Sariah an ancient name? i.e. was it around in 600 BC? The question is not: Was it around in 1822?
If the answer to the first question is yes (which this article affirms), then it is another drop in the bucket of evidence that the Book of Mormon is an ancient text.
Replies
anonymous, 04-12-2019 at 11:54 am
The answer to the first question being yes simply means that a name is ancient and was used for both males and females anciently.
That the name was in use for both males and females, during the time when the Book of Mormon was printed provides a plausible source for that name being found in the Book of Mormon.
Neal’s statement of “only in these sources” is misleading and could influence some to think that the name Sariah is unique and only found in the Book of Mormon and the Elephantine papyri. If it really were only found in those two sources, that would be a huge drop in the bucket of evidence for the Book of Mormon. But that isn’t the case and in a scholarly journal, it would be appropriate to include the simple fact that the name was in use for both males and females in the United States and Europe before, during and after the Book of Mormon was written.
Replies
Elliott Jolley, 04-12-2019 at 3:07 pm
In good faith, I encourage you to read again the paragraph in question. In it, brother Rappleye is discussing Sariah as an ancient male name vs. Sariah as an ancient female name. He points out that Sariah is an ancient male name in other contemporary ancient sources and is an ancient female name in only these two ancient sources. (Thereby leading to a possible connection between the two sources and Northern Israel)
He is not trying to mislead anybody. He discussed all the relevant ancient sources that refer to Sariah and rightly concluded that only two ancient sources use the name as female. In the context of both that paragraph and the entire article, it is not an omission not note any 1800’s reference to the same name and then speculate that Joseph Smith copied the name from the his environment. Even a small reference to such a thing in the middle of that paragraph would be disjointed, shoehorned, and out of place. And it would correctly be removed by the editors of this or any other reputable scholarly journal.
Replies
anonymous, 04-13-2019 at 3:24 pm
I would very much like to see a response from Neal. I tend to disagree with your reasoning that it would be out of place in a reputable scholarly journal. On the contrary, such clarification is essential to separate this journal from the caliber of publications such as the Epoch Times or the Ancient American Magazine.
There are many cases where members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints have been led to believe that the name Sariah is only found in the Book of Mormon. Here is just one example, written by the founder of this very journal.
“The name of Lehi’s wife Sariah, for example, previously invisible outside the Book of Mormon, has now been found in ancient Jewish documents from Egypt.”
https://publications.mi.byu.edu/publications/review/18/1/S00018-5176a9e73980b18Peterson.pdf
Such confusion could be avoided by simply including established facts.
Replies
Brant A. Gardner, 04-13-2019 at 4:18 pm
I am not Neal, and don’t presume to answer for him. However, I can suggest that your issue with the article is based on an assumption of what its intention might have been, and not what it says. What you are suggesting is that the name Sariah cannot be used as a proof of the Book of Mormon, because it was also possible to derive the name from a modern context. That is correct.
However, that isn’t what the article is doing. The article begins with an assumption that is based on the assumed audience (LDS) and therefore examines only the ancient context of the name. Thus, it is suggesting that the name Sariah cannot disprove the Book of Mormon. That is quite different from the question you think it is attempting to answer.
So, it is true that Sariah cannot prove the Book of Mormon true. It is also true that it cannot prove it modern instead of ancient. Since the article attempts only the second, there is no reason to decry what it never attempted to do.
Mark Johnson, 04-05-2019 at 3:38 pm
Good work, sir Rappleye. I’ll be including this in my marginalia soon.
Revisiting “Sariah” at Elephantine - The Mormonist, 04-05-2019 at 12:01 pm
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