Daniel Vainstub

Overview

Daniel Vainstub is an Israeli epigrapher whose work concerns early alphabetic inscriptions from the southern Levant and the institutions of the Phoenician cities. He took his doctorate at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and has lectured there in the Department of Bible, Archaeology and Ancient Near East; his 2026 publication lists him as an independent researcher.

Major Works and Contributions

He is the first author of the 2022 publication of the ivory comb from Tel Lachish, whose early Canaanite inscription he and his co-authors read as the wish "May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard." He is also the first author of the 2026 publication, with Yosef Garfinkel and others, of the Lachish jar inscription from the 2025 season: six letters in red ink, from a twelfth-century BC context, read as the personal name Bʻlšlṭ.

Biblical Significance

The root of that name, šlṭ, is the root of the word used of Joseph as governor over the land of Egypt (Genesis 42:6). The Armstrong Institute has presented the inscription as early evidence for the use of Joseph's title; the published paper treats it as a personal name. The inscription comes from the last Late Bronze Age settlement at Lachish, a period that falls within the time of the Judges on the early-date chronology.