Jerusalem inscription discovery
Archaeologists in Israel have discovered a unique inscription bearing the name of Jerusalem, believed to date from around 100 BC. Written in Hebrew, it was found carved on a limestone column drum (a short section of a column) in the excavations of an artisan’s village only 2.5 km from the Temple Mount.
It is an important find because it is the only Second Temple period stone inscription ever unearthed that uses the full Hebrew spelling, Yerushalayim, instead of the more common shorthand version, Yerushalem. This full spelling, while rarely discovered in archaeology, is attested to in the Bible.
- Borschel-Dan, A., Earliest known stone carving of Hebrew word ‘Jerusalem’ found near city entrance, timesofisrael.com, 9 October 2018.
- Katz, B., 2,000-year-old stone inscription is earliest to spell out ‘Jerusalem’, smithsonianmag.com, 17 October 2018.
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