Several seasons of excavation were carried out between 1975 and 1995 on
Ketef Hinnom (Hebrew for "shoulder of Hinnom") a hill overlooking the
Hinnom Valley, southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem. In the area next to
St. Andrew's Church, finds dating from the Iron Age to the Ottoman period
were uncovered.
The major discovery of the Ketef Hinnom excavations were several rock-hewn
burial caves dating from the end of the First Temple period (7th century
BCE), which contained an abundance of small artifacts, though the caves
had been plundered and damaged in the past. The burial chambers have wide
rock-cut benches, some with a raised headrest, on which bodies were laid.
Space hewn beneath the benches served as repositories of bones for
secondary burial, making room for burial of other family members.
One of the larger tombs, which probably belonged to a wealthy family, was
found almost intact, with over a thousand objects in it: many small
pottery vessels; artifacts of iron and bronze including arrowheads,
needles and pins; bone and ivory objects; glass bottles; and jewelry,
including earrings of gold and silver. The tomb was in use for several
generations towards the end of the First Temple period and for some time
after the destruction of 587-6 BCE.
The most important of all the objects found in this tomb are two small
silver scrolls. They were somewhat damaged - small wonder, since they were
placed in the tomb in the 7th century BCE. Carefully unrolled by experts
at the Israel Museum laboratories, they were found to be covered with
ancient Hebrew script on the obverse, which was deciphered with some
difficulty.
The larger of the two plaques measures 97 x 27 mm., the smaller only 39 x
11 mm. The larger plaque contains 18 lines of writing, mostly legible.
Both plaques contain benediction formulas in paleo-Hebrew script, almost
identical to the biblical Priestly Blessing in Numbers 6:24-26.
This biblical text, dated to the 7th century BCE, is the oldest known to
date and pre-dates the texts found in the Dead Sea area by about 500
years. The word yhwh (the name of the Lord in Hebrew) appears in writing
for the first time ever. The benediction quoted from the Book of Numbers
was recited by the Temple priests when blessing the congregation; here it
is found in writing and for individual use. The tiny silver scrolls were
probably worn as amulets around the neck.
The excavations were directed by G. Barkay on behalf of Tel Aviv
University.