The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah)
A thin upright stone on a rock-cut platform beside the spring, still standing where it was set
Found 2011 — Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich (Israel Antiquities Authority)
Where Rock-cut rooms, eastern slope of the City of David, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) (Israel)
Dates from In use until c. 750 BCE · Iron Age IIB (last use) · Kings of Judah, 9th–8th centuries BCE
Now at In situ, City of David National Park
How The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah) was found
Found in place inside the rock-cut rooms above the Gihon Spring: a single flat, upright stone set into a cut platform, with a low bench-like floor in front of it. It was buried under the deliberate 8th-century fill that closed the rooms.
What it is
A slab of local limestone standing on edge, roughly the height of a person's chest, with no carving or inscription. It is set into a socket in the bedrock on a raised platform inside one of the rock-cut rooms, facing an open floor where people could have stood.
Why it matters for the Bible
A plain upright stone is exactly what the Bible calls a matzevah, a 'pillar', the kind Yaakov (Jacob) set up at Bethel and the kind the Torah later forbids next to YHVH's altar. Finding one still standing in the capital of Judah, and then sealed away in the 8th century, gives readers a concrete picture of what Chizkiyahu's reform 'broke in pieces'. Critics note the stone is unusually thin for a matzevah and could be a working surface, so its meaning depends on how the whole complex is read.
The Hebrew word: mah-tzeh-VAH
מַצֵּבָה
מַצֵּבָה is pronounced mah-tzeh-VAH and means standing stone; pillar set up as a memorial or cult object (Strong's H4676).
People this discovery connects to
- Jacob — יַעֲקֹב (yah-ah-KOHV) — heel-holder; supplanter
- Hezekiah — חִזְקִיָּהוּ (chiz-kee-YAH-hoo) — YHVH strengthens
Places
- Gihon — גִּיחוֹן (gee-CHOHN) — bursting forth (spring)
Events
Setting up of pillars in Israelite worship · Hezekiah's reform
The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah) in Scripture
Genesis 28:18 Yaakov sets up a stone as a matzevah and pours oil on it; the Gihon stone shows what such a pillar looked like.
Deuteronomy 16:22 The command not to set up a matzevah 'which YHVH your Elohim hates'; this stone stood a short walk from the Temple.
1 Kings 1:33 First mention of Gihon in Scripture.
Questions people ask
What is The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah)?
A slab of local limestone standing on edge, roughly the height of a person's chest, with no carving or inscription. It is set into a socket in the bedrock on a raised platform inside one of the rock-cut rooms, facing an open floor where people could have stood.
When was The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah) discovered?
It was found in 2011 by Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich (Israel Antiquities Authority), at Rock-cut rooms, eastern slope of the City of David, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).
Where is The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah) today?
In situ, City of David National Park.
Which Bible verses does The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah) relate to?
Genesis 28:18, Deuteronomy 16:22, 1 Kings 1:33.
Is The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah) authentic?
The stone is a real in-situ find. Whether it is a worship pillar (Shukron and co-authors) or a work installation (Aren Maeir) is disputed; there is no inscription to settle it.
Related discoveries
- בָּמָהCity of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary RoomsEight bedrock chambers near the Gihon with an altar, olive press and winepress, sealed in the 8th century BCE
- מַצֵּבָהShechem (Tell Balata) Temple-FortressThe great Canaanite temple in the city of Avraham's first altar
- קַרְנֹת הַמִּזְבֵּחַBeersheba Horned AltarA dismantled four-horned altar from an Israelite border town
- בֵּית־אֵלBethel (Beitin)The 'house of El' where Jacob dreamed and Israel later worshiped
- גֹּשֶׁןAvaris (Tell el-Dab'a)A Semitic city in the eastern Delta, in the land the Bible calls Goshen
- בְּכֹרָהAlalakh Tablets and the Statue of IdrimiA Syrian city's archives and a king's story that reads like Genesis
Sources
- Shukron et al., 'Evidence of Worship in the Rock-Cut Rooms', 'Atiqot 116 (2025)
- City of David, 'A Unique Structure Discovered'
- Haaretz, 'Ritual Structure Used by Canaanites and Jews Revealed in Jerusalem' (Jan 2025)
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