Israeli archaeologists believe that the carved inscription in the "monumental style" about the merits of King Hezekiah is similar to an excerpt from 2 Kings.
This is reported by Biblical Archaeology with reference to Israel Today.
Scientists note that the discovery is a breakthrough in the study of the biblical period, since until today it was believed that the kings of Israel and Judah did not make monumental inscriptions or steles to celebrate their own achievements, as was customary in Assyria, Babylon and Egypt. Until now, only miniature artifacts were found - bullae or seals with the names of biblical kings and their officials.
It is worth noting that the discovery of this tablet is not new: the first inscription made on it in Paleo-Hebrew letters was reported in 2008, but the text was deciphered only recently. This artifact was found during excavations in the area of the Gihon Spring in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem in 2007 under the direction of archaeologists Eli Shukron and Roni Reich. The inscription was only fragments of words, the rest of the letters of which have not been preserved, because the tablet was broken from all sides.
The tablet was found in a mixture of stones and earth, which included many fragments of pottery, dated to the end of the VIII century BC. This helped in dating the inscription. The artifact was located near the southeast corner of the cut pool. The inscription was made on a white limestone slab 4.5 cm thick, 9.5 cm wide and 13.5 cm long.
The fragment contains two lines of text written in the Paleo-Hebrew script, three letters each. At the time, the Israel Antiquities Authority did not establish a definitive connection between the inscription, King Hezekiah and the basin, and only a recent re-analysis led to the conclusion that it actually contains the name of Hezekiah.
A very similar biblical passage is found in 2 Kings 20:20, which states:
"And the rest of the works of Hezekiah, and all his chivalry, and how he made the pond, and the water, and brought water into the city, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah."
King Hezekiah of Judah (726-697 AD) is well known in archaeology and the Bible. His name is mentioned on prisms of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, as well as on bullae found during excavations. Hezekiah is also mentioned several times in the Bible in the context of the construction of pools and waterworks. In addition, the tablet was found in just such a place - near the pool.
Another clue for scientists was the shape of the above letters, which resemble the letters of the Siloam inscription found in the tunnel of Hezekiah. To provide Jerusalem with water from the Gihon spring, which was located outside the city walls at that time, Hezekiah's workers dug a tunnel, as evidenced by the inscription.
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