Israel

Israel

MembersAncient Inscription Points to Jerusalem

During civil works on the outskirts of Jerusalem’s modern municipal boundary workers stumbled across a 2,100-year-old limestone pillar inscribed with the name Jerusalem, written with the exact same Hebrew spelling as it is today.

Jerusalem
Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

The stone is part of a structure from the time of the Romans. The inscription is in Aramaic, then the common language of the region, but the letters are Hebrew. It is believed that the pillar in question is from a slightly earlier time, and was reused by the Romans. The inscription is attributed to “Hananiah son of Dodalos of Jerusalem.”

Inscriptions from the Second Temple period that include the full Hebrew name “Yerushalayim” are rare. Most inscriptions from that time use shorter forms for the city’s name, usually in Aramaic. It is the oldest known inscription of this kind. A coin featuring the same full Hebrew name for Jerusalem also dates to the same period, but is believed to be...

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