News
10 October 2018
In Israel, discovered the oldest inscription mentioning Jerusalem
The inscription on the stone with the mention of the full name of Jerusalem in Hebrew, dating back to the 1st century of our era, was found in Israel, from October 10, visitors of the exhibition in the Israel Museum will be able to see it.
The inscription was discovered during excavations carried out by employees of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, on one of the columns of the Roman building from the time of Herod the Great, and reads: "Hananiah, son of Dodalos from Jerusalem."
"As a resident of Jerusalem, I am extremely happy to read this inscription, made 2,000 years ago, especially now that it will be available to every child because it is made in a language he understands and modern spelling," Ido Museum Director Bruno said at a press conference. He stressed that the discovery is an important event for the whole country and gives the public the opportunity to "learn about the ancient cultures that have developed in Israel over many generations."
According to the museum employee Dudi Mevorah, the archaeological context does not allow to determine exactly who Hanania was. "Perhaps he was an artist or a potter. It is interesting that he decided to add his place of origin to his name from Jerusalem," he said.
Jerusalem regional archaeologist Yuval Baruch and a professor at Haifa University, Ronnie Reich, who managed to study the inscription, noted that this is the only stone inscription from the beginning of our era, which shows the exact name of Jerusalem in Hebrew letters. Before such writing was found only on the coin of the Great Uprising against the Romans (66-70 AD), and even in the Bible, where Jerusalem is mentioned 660 times, only in five cases the full name of the city is recorded, the scholars noted.
In addition to the unique inscription, the museum will exhibit a number of finds testifying to the development of the city 1.5 thousand years ago, during the period of mass pilgrimage of Christians to the Holy Land. Simultaneously with the exhibition at the Hebrew University, the international conference "New Research in the Archeology of Jerusalem and its Region" will begin.
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