By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News—
Archaeologists uncovered a unique stone inscription dating back to the Second Temple Period with ‘Jerusalem’ written in full in modern Hebrew script – the first such discovery ever.
The exciting find was presented on Tuesday during a press conference by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the Israel Museum.
Archaeologists discovered the inscription this past winter near the Jerusalem International Convention Center during a dig carried out in the area prior to the construction of a new road, where the foundations of a Roman structure were exposed. The most significant part was a stone column drum, reused in the Roman structure, upon which the Aramaic inscription appears, written in Hebrew letters typical of the Second Temple Period.
The inscription reads “Hananiah son of / Dodalos / of Jerusalem” in three lines.
‘Spelling as we know it today’
Dr. Yuval Baruch, the IAA’s Jerusalem regional archaeologist, and Prof. Ronny Reich of Haifa University, who read and studied the inscription, noted that “First and Second Temple period inscriptions mentioning Jerusalem are quite rare. But even more unique is the complete spelling of the name as we know it today, which usually appears in the shorthand version.”
This is the only stone inscription of the Second Temple era known in which the full spelling of Jerusalem’s name appears. It has been seen in one other instance, on a coin of the Great Revoltagainst the Romans (66-70 CE). Continue Reading…..
