Another Rare Discovery – a papyrus with the name ‘JERUSALEM’

I have mentioned in the past that not one day goes by without a new archaeological discovery in Jerusalem. This reinforces the importance of Jerusalem to the Jews for more than 3,000 years.

In a complex enforcement operation, inspectors of the Israel Antiquities Authority seized a papyrus that includes the earliest reference to Jerusalem in an extra-biblical document, which is written in ancient Hebrew script and dates to the time of the Kingdom of Judah. One of the recent archaeological findings is a very old papyrus on which the name of Jerusalem is mentioned.

This is a shipping document from a King’s maidservant to someone in Jerusalem. It is not clear which King but the C14 test dates it back to 2,700 years ago – which is the 1st Holy Temple period.

A papyrus is a type of paper made out of plants; therefore, the C14 test can be used to validate the period of this document.

This was discovered in the Judean Desert in a cave, nearby where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The dry weather helped preserve this document for so many years.

As a side note – despite continued facts & evidence piling up, UNESCO denies Israeli claims to Jerusalem, indicating that it has no legal or historical ties to any part of the city.