Unique 2,000-Year-Old Tablet Discovered Along ‘Pilgrimage Road’ in City of David

The physical evidence continues to pile up as to the authenticity of the Bible.

As excavators and archeologists continue digging and unearthing pieces of history that give hard evidence that what the Bible says is true, a new tablet unearthed near the Pools of Siloam gives a unique look into the world of ancient Israel.

Excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) discovered a 2,000-year-old tablet with inscriptions that reveal it is an ancient receipt of trade.

As reported by the IAA on a social media post:

“According to the researchers, the inscription was carved with a sharp tool onto a chalkstone (qirton) slab. Apparently, the stone slab was originally used as an ossuary (burial chest), commonly used in Jerusalem and Judea during the Early Roman period (37 BCE to 70 CE). Ossuaries are generally found in graves outside the city, but their presence has also been documented inside the city, perhaps as a commodity sold in a local artisan’s workshop or store.”

The history and daily life of a Jew in Israel, backing up their claims to the Jewish homeland, is literally set in stone.

The discovery occurred along the Pilgrimage Road, near the Pools of Siloam, within the Jerusalem Walls National Park, yielding further evidence of the Jewish heritage of the city.

According to Nahshon Szanton, Excavation Director on behalf of the IAA, with Epigraphist, Prof. Esther Eshel of Bar Ilan University, there have been other inscriptions discovered like the tablet found, but this is the first one that was discovered within the city of Jerusalem.

“The intriguing find was discovered in the lower city square, located along the Pilgrimage Road. This Road, extending some 600 meters, connected the city gate and the area of the pool of Siloam in the south of the City of David, to the gates of the Temple Mount and the Second Temple, and essentially served as the main thoroughfare of Jerusalem at the time. This unique discovery joins similar findings uncovered in the area, attesting to the commercial nature of the area,” the IAA’s post continues.

The artifact is dated back to the Early Roman period, at the end of the Second Temple period but also during a time when Jesus was walking those very same streets, due to the type of script that it is written in as well as the type of stone used in creating the table and the similar characteristics it shares with more contemporary inscriptions.

“The Pilgrimage Road, which is continually being uncovered in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem, is a flagship project of the Israel Antiquities Authority,” Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, says.

“It is not a coincidence that the many discoveries which are being revealed in the excavation shed light on the centrality of this road even during the Second Temple period. With every discovery, our understanding of the area deepens, revealing this street’s pivotal role in the daily lives of Jerusalem’s inhabitants 2,000 years ago.”

There is even a name associated with the receipt, as the word “Shimon” has been deciphered from the tablet, though who “Shimon” was or what the nature of the transactions were remain to be discovered. {eoa}

James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.