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Earliest Hebrew mention of Jerusalem found on 2,700-year-old scroll

Xinhua, October 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

A 2,700-year-old papyrus scroll has been found which contains the earliest known mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a press conference on Wednesday.

The document was dated to the seventh century B.C., a time when according to the Hebrew Bible, the city was the capital of the Israelite Kingdom of Judea.

"This is the earliest extra-biblical source to mention Jerusalem in Hebrew writing," the Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

Two lines in ancient Hebrew were preserved on the papyrus, showing the find was a shipping document for a transfer of goods from the king of the ancient settlement of Na'arat to Jerusalem, the capital of the region.

The text read: "From the king's maidservant, from Na'arat, jars of wine, to Jerusalem."

The researchers believe the jars may have been sent to Jerusalem as a payment of taxes.

The scroll was found by antiques robbers in one of the Judean Desert caves, where other ancient scrolls were found. Israel's Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery managed to locate the scroll and seized it.

"The document represents extremely rare evidence of the existence of an organized administration in the Kingdom of Judah. It underscores the centrality of Jerusalem as the economic capital of the kingdom in the second half of the seventh century B.C.," Eitan Klein, deputy director of the unit, said in the statement.

The recipient of the wine, however, remains elusive. "According to the Bible, the kings Menashe, Amon or Josiah ruled in Jerusalem at this time; however, it is not possible to know for certain which one was the recipient of the shipment of wine," said Klein. Endit