Ophel Cuneiform Tablet Fragment
The oldest written text found in Jerusalem, a scrap of an Amarna-age royal letter
Found 2010 — Eilat Mazar (Hebrew University); read by Assyriologists Wayne Horowitz and Takayoshi Oshima
Where The Ophel, south of the Temple Mount, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) (Israel)
Dates from 14th century BCE · Late Bronze Age IIA · Canaanite Jerusalem (Urusalim) under Egyptian rule, the age of the Amarna letters
Now at Israel Antiquities Authority collections (Hebrew University Ophel excavation finds)
How Ophel Cuneiform Tablet Fragment was found
Recovered during wet-sifting of soil from a fill under a 10th-century BCE tower in the Ophel excavations, south of the Temple Mount. Announced July 2010.
What it is
A fired clay fragment only about 2 by 2.8 cm, with parts of nine lines of Akkadian cuneiform in a fine, practiced hand. Only single words survive ('you', 'you were', 'later', 'to do', 'them'), but the quality of the writing and the clay, which matches local Jerusalem soil, point to a scribe of a royal court.
Why it matters for the Bible
Before this, the oldest writing from Yerushalayim was the Siloam Inscription of Chizkiyahu's day. This fragment is about 600 years older and belongs to the same world as the Amarna letters, in which Abdi-Heba, ruler of Urusalim, begs Pharaoh for help. It is a small physical witness that Bronze Age Yerushalayim had a court with trained scribes writing to kings, the setting the Bible assumes for the Jebusite city David later took.
The Hebrew word: ye-voo-SEE
יְבוּסִי
יְבוּסִי is pronounced ye-voo-SEE and means Jebusite, the people of pre-Israelite Jerusalem (Strong's H2983).
Places
- Jebus / Jerusalem — יְבוּס (ye-VOOS) — trodden place; pre-Israelite name of Jerusalem
Events
Canaanite city-states under Egypt in the Late Bronze Age · Jerusalem before the Israelite conquest
Ophel Cuneiform Tablet Fragment in Scripture
Genesis 10:16 First mention of Jebus in Scripture.
Joshua 10:1 Adoni-Zedek, king of Yerushalayim, leads a Canaanite coalition; the tablet comes from the court of such Bronze Age kings.
Judges 1:21 The Jebusites keep Yerushalayim; the tablet shows the city was a functioning royal center in that era.
Questions people ask
What is Ophel Cuneiform Tablet Fragment?
A fired clay fragment only about 2 by 2.8 cm, with parts of nine lines of Akkadian cuneiform in a fine, practiced hand. Only single words survive ('you', 'you were', 'later', 'to do', 'them'), but the quality of the writing and the clay, which matches local Jerusalem soil, point to a scribe of a royal court.
When was Ophel Cuneiform Tablet Fragment discovered?
It was found in 2010 by Eilat Mazar (Hebrew University); read by Assyriologists Wayne Horowitz and Takayoshi Oshima, at The Ophel, south of the Temple Mount, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).
Where is Ophel Cuneiform Tablet Fragment today?
Israel Antiquities Authority collections (Hebrew University Ophel excavation finds).
Which Bible verses does Ophel Cuneiform Tablet Fragment relate to?
Genesis 10:16, Joshua 10:1, Judges 1:21.
Related discoveries
- מְנוֹרָהThe Ophel Treasure and Gold Menorah MedallionA Byzantine-era hoard with a 10-cm gold medallion showing menorah, shofar and Torah scroll
- חוֹמָהOphel Wall and GatehouseA fortification line south of the Temple Mount attributed to Solomon
- גְּאֻלָּהOphel Cave of 'Redemption of Zion' CoinsA refuge cave beside the Temple Mount sealed in 70 CE with bronze coins of the revolt's last year
- עֹפֶלOphel Pithos InscriptionThe oldest alphabetic writing found in Jerusalem
- עֹפֶלJerusalem's Rock-Cut Northern MoatA 9-metre-deep trench that cut the City of David off from the Temple Mount, identified in 2023
- מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָהRoyal Bulla of Hezekiah'Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz, king of Judah' — the king's own seal impression
Sources
- ScienceDaily / Hebrew University, 'Oldest written document ever found in Jerusalem discovered' (July 2010)
- Horowitz, Oshima and Vukosavović, 'Jerusalem 2: A Fragment of a Cuneiform Tablet from the Ophel Excavations', in The Ophel Excavations 2009–2013