Israel Matzav

Arabic inscription found in Jewish Quarter of Old Jerusalem

A stone with an inscription in Arabic that is estimated to be 1200 years old was found in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday according to a statement released by Israel's Antiquities Authority.

The stone (pictured) is approximately 20 centimeters by 20 centimeters (8 inches by 8 inches). The inscription was said to date back to the Abbasid Caliphate, the third caliphate of Muslim rule in the region and a dynasty founded by the prophet Muhammad’s youngest uncle in the tenth century CE.

The three lines of Arabic script were carved into a marble slate 20 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide.

In addition to the inscription, numerous ceramic vessels, glass vessels and coins that range in date from the Second Temple period to the Middle Ages were discovered in the excavation. Noteworthy among the pottery are the oil lamps decorated with Arabic inscriptions that were found in the foundations of the Ayyubid structure and on its floor.

The archaeological finds were discovered in the Jewish part of Jerusalem’s Old City, underneath an area on which a private home will be constructed, north of the Church of St. Mary of the Germans. Parts of the foundations of the church were also unearthed in the excavation.

Two similar inscriptions have been discovered in Israel in the past. Based on those previous discoveries, Professor Moshe Sharon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem concluded that the recent discovery “dates to the year 910 CE … commemorates the granting of an estate by the Abbasid caliph to one of his loyal followers in Jerusalem.”

Well, that still puts them about 1900 years after the Jews got here.

By the way, you know what would have happened if Muslims had found an ancient Hebrew inscription in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, don't you?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:11 AM