May 24, 2012


The tiny clay seal’s existence and age provide vivid evidence that Bethlehem was not just the name of a fabled biblical town but also a bustling place of trade linked to the nearby city of Jerusalem, archaeologists said.




Shmuel Achituv, an expert in ancient scripts at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, who did not participate in the dig, said the discovery was the oldest reference to Bethlehem ever found outside of the Bible. Apart from the seal, the other mentions of Bethlehem, Achituv said, “are only in the Bible.”

The stamp, also known as “fiscal bulla,” was likely used to seal an administrative tax document, sent from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, the seat of Jewish power at the time.

It was found as archaeologists sifted through mounds of dirt they had dug up in an excavation outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls.

Shukron said the first line most likely read “Beshava’at” — or “in the seventh” — most likely the year of the reign of a king. The second line, he said, has the crumbling letters of the word “Bethlehem.” The third line carried one letter, a “ch” which Shukron said was the last letter of the Hebrew work for king, “melech.”



The dig itself has raised controversy.




Category: News

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