Pesach, a fragment of a ceramic vessel from Elephantine, Egypt.
This letter was written in Aramaic on a pottery pot (ostraca) about 2,475 years ago in the settlement of Elephantine, Egypt, where the Jewish community lived.
It contains one of the earliest known references to the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Pesach commemorates the Israelites’ escape from Egyptian slavery under the leadership of Moses through the desert to the land of Canaan.
Text:
To Ho Chi Minh City. Greetings! Take care of the children until Ahutab comes. Do not entrust them to anyone else! If the flour for the bread has been ground, make a small portion of dough to last until their mother arrives. Let me know when you are going to celebrate Passover. Tell me how the child is doing!” obverse.
