After ten years of research, Jewish archaeologists have deciphered an 8th-century BC inscription on a stone tablet the size of a human hand. The artifact was discovered in 2007 during excavations in Jerusalem's City of David National Park, but the inscription has only recently been deciphered.
It was deciphered by Professor Gershon Galil, head of the Institute of Biblical Studies and Ancient History at the University of Haifa, and his collaborator. It turned out that the name of the biblical king is partially mentioned in the inscription, and the missing part must be filled in to read the entire inscription, which is actually a repetition of a certain part of the biblical text about King Hezekiah.
The inscription refers to King Hezekiah and his achievements, which is consistent with the biblical passage in 2 Kings 20.
It is also noted that Hezekiah did “what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done” (2 Chronicles 29:2).
Hezekiah is mentioned several times in the Bible in connection with the construction of pools and tunnels, and it was in such a “pool,” located in the area of the Gihon spring, that the stone with the inscription was found. The researchers came to the conclusion that the complete inscription was as follows: “Hezekiah made a pool in Jerusalem.”
Gershon Galil, a biblical scholar at the University of Haifa, says: “This is a very important discovery that changes some basic assumptions, since until now it was generally accepted that the kings of Israel and Judah, unlike the kings of the Ancient Near East, did not leave royal inscriptions and monuments to commemorate their achievements.
“These are actually the earliest manuscripts of the Bible.
They are about 100 years older than the silver amulets of Ketef Hin, and hundreds of years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls.
They also support the claim that the Scriptures of the Book of Kings are based on texts taken from chronicles and royal inscriptions, and that the Bible reflects historical reality, not imagination,” added Gershon Galil, reports cnl.news.