The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022)
A 'first Darius inscription in Israel' that turned out to be a modern demonstration piece
Found 2022 — Picked up in December 2022 by hiker Eylon Levy at Tel Lachish; announced 1 March 2023 by the Israel Antiquities Authority with epigrapher Saar Ganor and reading by Haggai Misgav; retracted by the IAA on 3 March 2023
Where Tel Lachish, Judean Shephelah (Israel)
Dates from Purported 498 BCE ('year 24 of Darius'); actual 2022 CE · Modern (made August 2022); imitating Persian period · Reign of Darius I (Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah) — purported
Now at Israel Antiquities Authority (withdrawn from display)
How The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022) was found
A pottery sherd with an Aramaic inscription reading 'Year 24 of Darius' lay on the surface near the Persian-period palace at Lachish. Within days of the press release, a foreign expedition member came forward to say she had scratched the text onto an ancient sherd in August 2022 to show students how ancient writing was done, then left it on the site.
What it is
A small body sherd of a genuinely ancient jar bearing two lines of Aramaic in ink-free incised letters naming the 24th year of King Darius. Because the sherd was real and the script competent, the IAA first hailed it as the only inscription in Israel naming Darius the Great and dated it to 498 BCE. It is in fact a teaching demonstration made a few months before it was 'found'.
Why it matters for the Bible
The episode is a lesson in method. An unexcavated surface find, however skilled its script, cannot be trusted without context, and an announcement made before peer review can mislead millions within days. Darius I is important to Scripture, since under him the Second Temple was finished (Ezra 6:15), so a Judean inscription naming him would have mattered. None yet exists. The IAA's quick, public correction, and its promise to change its procedures for surface finds, is a model of the honesty the field needs and a caution for readers of every 'sensational' headline.
The Hebrew word: Dar-YAH-vesh
דָּרְיָוֶשׁ
דָּרְיָוֶשׁ is pronounced Dar-YAH-vesh and means Darius — the Persian king named in Ezra, Haggai and Zechariah (Strong's H1867).
People this discovery connects to
- Darius I — דָּרְיָוֶשׁ (Dar-YAH-vesh) — he who holds firm the good (Old Persian Dārayavauš)
Places
- Lachish — לָכִישׁ (Lah-CHEESH) — uncertain
Events
Completion of the Second Temple in Darius' sixth year · Persian administration of Judah (Yehud)
The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022) in Scripture
Ezra 6:15 The Temple was finished in Darius' sixth year; the sherd claimed to name his 24th year, but is modern.
Haggai 1:1 Haggai dates his prophecy by the years of Darius, the same dating formula the fake imitated.
Nehemiah 11:30 Lachish listed among Judean towns resettled after the exile; a Persian-period palace really did stand there.
Questions people ask
What is The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022)?
A small body sherd of a genuinely ancient jar bearing two lines of Aramaic in ink-free incised letters naming the 24th year of King Darius. Because the sherd was real and the script competent, the IAA first hailed it as the only inscription in Israel naming Darius the Great and dated it to 498 BCE. It is in fact a teaching demonstration made a few months before it was 'found'.
When was The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022) discovered?
It was found in 2022 by Picked up in December 2022 by hiker Eylon Levy at Tel Lachish; announced 1 March 2023 by the Israel Antiquities Authority with epigrapher Saar Ganor and reading by Haggai Misgav; retracted by the IAA on 3 March 2023, at Tel Lachish, Judean Shephelah.
Where is The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022) today?
Israel Antiquities Authority (withdrawn from display).
Which Bible verses does The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022) relate to?
Ezra 6:15, Haggai 1:1, Nehemiah 11:30.
Is The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022) authentic?
Not a forgery in the sense of fraud for gain: the maker came forward at once and the IAA accepted that it was a demonstration piece left carelessly on site. It is nonetheless a modern object and no evidence for Darius in Judah.
Related discoveries
- מַשְׂאֵתLachish Letters (Lachish Ostraca)Military dispatches from the last days of Judah: 'we cannot see the signals of Azekah'
- בָּמָהLachish Gate Shrine and Desecrated ToiletA gate sanctuary with broken altar horns and a stone latrine — Hezekiah's reform in action?
- סֹלְלָהLachish Level III: Assyrian Siege Ramp and Battle DebrisThe only surviving Assyrian siege ramp, with arrowheads, sling stones and a mass grave
- כִּנִּיםLachish Ivory Comb: The Earliest Canaanite SentenceA 3,700-year-old lice comb inscribed 'May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard'
- בַּיּוֹם הַשֵּׁנִיLachish Level VI Destruction and the Fosse TempleA Canaanite city under Egypt, burned around 1150 BCE
- עָרֵי מָצוֹרLachish Level VThe first Judahite town at Lachish and the question of Rehoboam's wall
Sources
- Times of Israel, 'Antiquities Authority: Ancient shard with Darius inscription is not authentic' (March 2023)
- Times of Israel, 'Too-good-to-be-true Darius ostracon mix-up teaches a public lesson etched in pottery'
- Biblical Archaeology Society, 'The Darius Ostracon: From Real to Fake'
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