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Archaeology and the Bible

Oldest Scrolls Ever Found difficulty, in developing a special technique for unroll-
Bestow High Blessing! ing the tiny, delicate scrolls. Unrolled, the two scrolls,
which were made of almost pure sheet-silver (ninety-
nine percent silver, one percent copper), contained in-
Silver Scrolls from Solomon's Temple con- scriptions in the ancient Hebrew alphabet. The inscrip-
tain Holy Name of Yehovah. tions were written prior to the mid-seventh century BC
and were delicately incised with a sharp instrument,
Benjamin Hartman probably as Jeremiah says, "with a pen of iron, with the
Review Staff Reporter point of a diamond." (17:1). Deciphering the tiny let-
ters are difficult, and not all the inscription can be
JERUSALEM, Israel -- Who wore this silver object, so clearly read. However, what can be deciphered reveals
finely crafted and painstakingly rolled up into a tiny, the oldest biblical text ever found.
pure silver scroll? Designed with a hole through the
center to be threaded with string, this was undoubtedly First, the end of the owner's name "... yahu" appears to
someone's sacred treasure. Did it belong to a daughter be preserved on the first line. This was a common form
of Jerusalem, a beautiful maiden with the silver scroll of name during the Kingdom of David. Names like
adorning her left arm? Or was it a strapping soldier "Ye'sha'aiahu" ("Isaiah") and "Yi'rmi'iahu" (Jeremiah)
from the king's court, a leather cord tied across his end similarly.
brow, binding the precious scroll close to his thoughts?
Even more interesting is the fact that the name is fol-
We will probably never know; but what we do known is lowed by legible Hebrew text, which, while fragmen-
that one of the greatest archaeological finds -- contain- tary, contains the well-known and beloved Priestly
ing the oldest known biblical texts ever found -- was High Blessing, included in which are the oldest inscrip-
once worn almost three-thousand years ago, and the an- tions of the Divine Name of God, "Y'H'V'H" -- "Yeho-
cient writings it contains once again substantiates the vah." The words of the blessing are almost identical to
antiquity of the Holy Scriptures. the verses in Numbers 6:24-26 in which God gave
Moses the blessing to be used by the priesthood for the
In obedience to the teachings of Moses, which in- children of Israel. The lines of the silver scroll read:
structed his people to keep the Word of the Lord close
to their hearts and minds, ancient Jews traditionally "The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make His
wore small cases containing scriptures on their left face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee; The
arm or brow. Known as "tephillin" in Hebrew, they are Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee
called "phylacteries" in the New Testament. peace." The inscription on the smaller scroll, not as
well preserved, also contained 19 lines. The letters are
Under the remains of a fourth century church, the up to 0.14 inches high (0.35 cm). The name of the
Church of St. George in Jerusalem, recent excavations owner, "Benayahu" or "Sh'banyahu" appears on the first
discovered numerous catacombs which were in use line. The next three lines are indecipherable, but from
from the time of King Solomon's Temple. It was in the fifth line on, it can be read quite easily.
these catacombs that two small cylindrical objects,
rolled up into tiny silver scrolls and dated to the time This is a slightly different version of the Priestly High
of the Kingdom of the House of David were found. Blessing, containing only ten words compared to the
fifteen words in Numbers 6. They are reminiscent,
The larger scroll is 1.1 inches long (2.75 cm), with a however, of another version which appears in the Bible
diameter of 0.43 inches (1.1 cm), while the smaller in Psalms 67:2: "May God be gracious to us and bless
scroll is only 0.45 inches long (1.12 cm), with a di- us and make His face to shine upon us, Selah."
ameter of 0.2 inches (0.5 cm). The experts at the Israel
Museum Laboratories succeeded, after much
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