Fragment of Hebrew inscription from period of Kings of Judah found in Israel

Washington, April 27 (ANI): Archaeologists have found a fragment of a limestone plaque bearing several letters of ancient Hebrew script in Israel, which dates back to the period of the kings of Judah.

The excavation, being carried out on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), was done in the vicinity of the Gihon Spring, within the precincts of the "Walls around Jerusalem National Park".

The stone fragment dates to the eighth century BCE and this is based on the numerous pottery sherds that were discovered together with it, as well as the shape of the Hebrew letters that are engraved in the inscription.

The plaque is broken on all sides. All that remains of the inscription are two lines of writing: In the upper line, the last part of a given name is preserved, which when translated into English means 'kof'.

Unfortunately, the remains of another letter before the 'kof' cannot be discerned.

On the other hand, there are other first names that were used in Judah and Jerusalem at that time that could be mentioned here such as Hilkia, Amekiya, etc.

In the second line are the remains of two words.

Here too, is a suffix of a word, which when translated into English means 'ka'. There are several possibilities for completing the word such as 'birqa', that is, a greeting expressing best wishes

Another possibility is the word 'brecha', meaning water reservoir.

The reconstruction of this word is possible based on the fact that Brechat HaShiloah, or the Shiloah Pool in English, is located nearby, and also based on the fact that a pool is mentioned in the famous Shiloah inscription that was discovered close by.

In any event, the fact that the object in question is a stone plaque indicates that this is a commemorative inscription that may have been meant to celebrate some sort of building project. (ANI)