[1] These ostraca were found in the treasury of the palace of Ahab, king of Israel, and probably date about his period, 850–750 BC.

Authored by royal scribes, the ostraca primarily record food deliveries, serving an archival function.

[2] The ostraca are written in the paleo-Hebrew alphabet,[3] which very closely resemble those of the Siloam Inscription, but show a slight development of the cursive script.

Either they were a "day-book," notes of daily receipts to be written up in some form of "ledger" afterwards, or they were the sole record kept of the amount of wine and oil received in various years from various places.

Of the places mentioned on these Ostraca, Shechem is the only one that can be identified with a text occurring in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament).