Treasure find sheds new light on old Jerusalem

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 36

Treasure find sheds new light on old Jerusalem

NZPA Jerusalem The discovery of a treasure trove, including the oldest Biblical inscriptions found, has shed new light on life in Jerusalem during the first, Jewish kingdom, 2600 years ago.

The inscriptions were scratched on to two silver charms found in a burial cave among a wealth of jewellery and pottery, said Mrs Michal DayagiMendels, a curator at the Israel Museum, where the treasure went on display this week. The trove of about 1000 items was the largest collection found in Jerusalem since archaeologists began probing the city’s ancient past 120 years ago. It was hidden from looters and grave robbers by a cave-in, said Mrs Dayagi-Mendels.

Nine caves were hewn into a hillside across the Hinnom valley, from the walls of Jerusalem’s old city, just 800 metres from where the Biblical temple stood.

Most of the burial

chambers had been stripped completely, and a few contained shards that looters left as valueless, said Mr Gabriel Barkay, the Tel Aviv archaeologist who led the excavation.

The charms, thin pieces of pure silver rolled up like scrolls and worn around the neck, were found in 1979, but the inscriptions were deciphered only this year, said Mr Barkay.

Parts of the text were missing, but enough was found to identify it as the blessing of the high priests from the Book of Numbers, Mr Barkay said during a preview of the exhibition.

The full text is: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and grant you peace.” The inscriptions date back to the seventh century 8.C., predating by 400 years the Dead Sea scrolls, which had been the earliest known Biblical texts, Mr Barkay said. The inscription, scratched into the silver in an ancient Hebrew script that has not been used for about 2500 years, supported the notion that the prayer was one of the earliest parts of the Bible. The priestly benediction

crystallised early, much before it was included in the Pentateuch, or the first five boooks of the Old Testament. He said the caves also yielded evidence that some Jews remained in Jerusalem even after the Babylonians captured the city in 586 8.C., expelled the Jews and destroyed the fabled Temple built by King Solomon about 400 years earlier. The finds also poined to extensive trade, and included the oldest coin ever found in Israel, said Mrs Dayagi-Mendels. She said the sixth century B.C. Greek coin belonged to a period when the first coins were being minted.