Two tiny silver scrolls found in a Jerusalem tomb contain the oldest biblical text
In short: Discovered by a teenager in 1979, two miniature silver amulets from the First Temple period hold the earliest known citations of scripture found in the Hebrew Bible. These fragile artifacts, inscribed in Paleo-Hebrew, offer a rare, tangible connection to ancient religious practices and the early development of the Hebrew alphabet.
In 1979, excavations at the Ketef Hinnom site near Jerusalem led to a remarkable find. While exploring a burial cave, a young volunteer discovered a repository in Chamber 25 that had been preserved by a ceiling collapse. Among over a thousand artifacts, including jewelry and pottery, were two tiny, delicate silver scrolls, designated KH1 and KH2. These items were buried in a layer containing material from the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, suggesting they were placed there during the First Temple period.
The scrolls were initially dated to the late 7th or early 6th century BCE, though this was later debated by scholars who questioned the condition of the script. To resolve the uncertainty, a team from the University of Southern California utilized advanced photographic and computer enhancement techniques. This re-examination confirmed that the inscriptions date to just before the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586/7 BCE. Experts now consider this study to have settled the controversy regarding the age of the artifacts.
The inscriptions are significant because they contain variations of the Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers and early confessional statements about Yahweh. While some have suggested this proves the existence of the Five Books of Moses during the First Temple period, scholars caution that this is an overinterpretation. Instead, the scrolls demonstrate that specific biblical material existed in that era. Furthermore, the use of terms like 'guard' and 'protect' suggests these scrolls functioned as apotropaic amulets, designed to ward off evil, a practice that finds parallels in other Iron Age artifacts.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Ketef Hinnom scrolls
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