Wadi Daliyeh Papyri

Legal documents, mostly slave sale contracts, abandoned in a cave north of Jericho by refugees from Samaria who were then killed by Alexander's forces. Their sealings and formulae name a succession of Samarian governors, including members of the Sanballat family. This confirms that Nehemiah's rival Sanballat headed a genuine dynastic governorship rather than being a literary figure, and clarifies the administrative structure of Persian-period Samaria. They also provide the historical backdrop to the growing Judean-Samaritan separation.