A Canaanite inscription was written on a pottery shard discovered in 2008 at Khirbet Qeiyafa. The text consists of five lines, written with ink on a slightly curved pottery fragment measuring 15 cm × 16.5 cm. It is read from left to right, suggesting a date before the 11th century BCE due to the direction of the writing, although experts attribute it to the 10th century BCE. The inscription includes legal instructions reflecting social responsibility toward socially vulnerable groups in Canaanite society, such as slaves, widows, orphans, children, and strangers. The inscription attests to the presence of strangers within the community and urges assistance to them. It calls for the care of widows and orphans and demands that the king at the time intervene to alleviate social disparities and injustice.

Translation of the inscription:

1. Do not do [that], but worship [the]
2. Judge for the slave, the widow; judge for the orphan
3. [and] the stranger. Plead for the infant [and]
4. for the widow. Restore consideration for the poor in the presence of the king
5. Protect the poor and the slave [or] and [help] the stranger