JERUSALEM — A tiny clay fragment dating from the 14th century BC discovered outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls contains the oldest written document found in the city, researchers say.
The 3,350-year-old clay fragment was uncovered during sifting of fill excavated from beneath a 10th-century BC tower, dating from the period of King Solomon in an area near the southern wall of the Old City, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Details of the find appear in the current Israel Exploration Journal.
“The find, believed to be part of a tablet from a royal archive, further testifies to the importance of Jerusalem as a major city in the Late Bronze Age, long before its conquest by King David,’’ the statement said.
The fragment, which is less than 1 inch by seven-10ths of an inch in size and four-10ths of an inch thick, contains cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, symbols in ancient Akkadian. The fragment was most likely part of a royal missive, according to Wayne Horowitz, a scholar of Assyriology at the Hebrew University Institute of Archeology.
Tablets with diplomatic messages were routinely exchanged between kings in the ancient Near East, and it is likely that the fragment was part of such a message, Horowitz said in the statement. The symbols on the fragment include the words “you’’ “you were,’’ “later,’’ “to do,’’ and “them,’’ the statement said.
The fragment is most likely part of a message from the king of Jerusalem, possibly Abdi-Heba, back to Egypt, Mazar said.
Oldest written document ever found
By BEN HARTMAN
07/12/2010 01:56
Archeologists unearth 14th century BCE fragment.
Hebrew University excavations recently unearthed a clay fragment dating back to the 14th century BCE, said to be the oldest written document ever found in Jerusalem.
The tiny fragment is only 2 cm. by 2.8 cm. in surface area and 1 cm. thick and appears to have once been part of a larger tablet. Researchers say the ancient fragment testifies to Jerusalem’s importance as a major city late in the Bronze Age, long before it was conquered by King David.
The minuscule fragment contains Akkadian words written in ancient cuneiform symbols. Researchers say that while the symbols appear to be insignificant, containing simply the words “you,” “you were,” “them,” “to do,” and “later,” the high quality of the writing indicates that it was written by a highly skilled scribe. Such a revelation would mean that the piece was likely written for tablets that were part of a royal household.
The find was uncovered in a fill taken from the Ophel area, which lies between the Old City’s southern wall and the City of David. The Ophel digs are being carried out by Dr. Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University Institute of Archeology, through funding from US donors Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman of New York.
According to Mazar, the fragment was discovered over a month and a half ago during wet sifting of the Ophel excavations, but was only released to the press this week because researchers wanted to wait until analysis of the piece was complete so as to be absolutely certain of the details of the find.
The most ancient piece of writing found in Jerusalem before the Ophel fragment was a tablet unearthed in the Shiloah water in the City of David, dating back to the eighth century BCE – nearly 600 years “younger” than the Ophel find.
Hebrew University Prof. Wayne Horowitz, a scholar of Assyriology, deciphered the script with the assistance of his former graduate student Dr.
Takayoshi Oshima. Horowitz said thatwhile the script was too broken to get context out of it, the quality of the writing gave some indication of the creator’s pedigree.
“What we can see is that the piece was written in very good script and the tablet was constructed very well. This indicates that the person responsible for creating the tablet was a first-class scribe.
In those days, you would expect to find a first-class scribe only in a large, important place,” he said.
According to Horowitz, the high quality of the tablet piece indicates that it was most likely part of a message sent from a then-king of Jerusalem to the pharaoh in Egypt.
Horowitz said that the fragment, which is made of Jerusalem clay, indicated that Jerusalem was one of the central cities of the area at the time.
“This shows Jerusalem was not a provincial backwater, [but] one of the main cities of the area,” he said.
Mazar called the fragment “one of the most important finds we’ve ever had” and said she hoped it would lead to further big discoveries.
“A piece this small wouldn’t have been sitting there all by itself; there have to be more pieces like it,” she said.
In February, Hebrew University excavations led by Mazar in the Ophel area found ancient stone fortifications dating back some 3,000 years to the time of King Solomon and the First Temple.
Archeologists said that the 70-meterlong and 6-m.-high wall indicated that there had been a strong central government in Jerusalem at the time, which had the manpower and resources to construct large-scale fortifications
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SevenofNine
Joined: 06 Jul 2009
Posts: 48258
Location: SO CAL USA |
 Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| WOW turn out be true if they could date it back perhaps in beginning of Israel ancients wriritng |
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SevenofNine
Joined: 06 Jul 2009
Posts: 48258
Location: SO CAL USA |
| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:46 pm |
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Hey Murphy that story has spread to UK Telegraph tonight
Tiny fragment bears oldest script found in Jerusalem
A tiny clay fragment dating from the 14th century BC, which was discovered outside Jerusalem's Old City walls, contains the oldest written document found in the city, researchers say
The 3,350-year-old clay fragment was uncovered during sifting of fill excavated from beneath a 10th century BC tower, dating from the period of King Solomon in an area near the southern wall of the Old City, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said today in an emailed statement. Details of the find appear in the current Israel Exploration Journal.
The find, believed to be part of a tablet from a royal archive, further testifies to the importance of Jerusalem as a major city in the Late Bronze Age, long before its conquest by King David, the statement said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/7886560/Tiny-fragment-bears-oldest-script-found-in-Jerusalem.html |
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Israeli archeologist Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University of Jerusalem held a fragment bearing an ancient form of writing. (Sebastian Scheiner/Associated Press)
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