The artifact was discovered during excavations in Jerusalem’s City of David National Park.
Israeli archaeologists have deciphered an 8th century BC inscription discovered on a palm-sized stone tablet after ten years of research. He writes about it Arkeonews.
The artifact was discovered during excavations in Jerusalem’s City of David National Park in 2007, but it was only recently deciphered.
It was deciphered after ten years of research by Professor Gershon Galil, head of Haifa University’s Institute for Biblical Studies and Ancient History, and Eli Shukron of the Bible and Ancient History Research Institute.
It was found that the name of the biblical king was partially recorded in the inscription, and this fragment could be filled in to read a certain part of the Bible concerning Hezekiah.
The inscription refers to King Hezekiah and his achievements, which corresponds to the biblical passage in 2 Kings 20. Hezekiah is mentioned several times in the Bible in connection with the construction of pools and tunnels, and the discovery of the stone with the inscription was made in such a “pool”. ” location in the area of the Gihon spring. Hezekiah is also mentioned as the one who does “what is good in the eyes of the Lord in all that David his father did” (2 Chronicles 29:2).
Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority