Land Tenure and Fiscal Practices in the Aramaic Corpus of Idumea: Bow-Fields and Horse Estates

The Idumean corpus of Aramaic ostraca sheds light on the structured administrative and fiscal system in the region. This publication raised the possibility of the presence of the terms qaštu (“bow-fields”) and, albeit conjecturally, “horse-estates,” which would offer the first concrete evidence of these land-management practices within the fiscal framework of the Idumean region. These findings resonate with other key terms already mentioned by scholars, such as iškaru and references to tax collectors, which underscore the Persian institutional system of taxation, labor organization, workforce allocation, and resource management. The fiscal vocabulary and classifications of landholding revealed in these texts display parallels with Babylonian, Persepolitan, and Egyptian models, while simultaneously reflecting local adaptations. The ostraca thus demonstrate that Idumea was an integrated part of a hybrid imperial structure that linked local agricultural communities to the broader Persian administration.