Archaeologists digging outside the walls of Jeruselum’s Old City have uncovered part of a clay tablet containing cuneiform symbols that dates back to 14th century B.C.E. The tablet measures 2 x 2.8 centimeters and is one centimeter thick.
It is the oldest written document every found in Jerusalem, eclipsing the previous record by some 600 years.
Prof. Wayne Horowitz , a scholar of Assyriology at the Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology who helped decipher the script says:
“The words the symbols form are not significant in themselves, but what is significant is that the script is of a very high level, testifying to the fact that it was written by a highly skilled scribe that in all likelihood prepared tablets for the royal household of the time.”
Though far from the earliest known clay tablets the discovery does help illuminate Jerusalem’s role as a major city during the Late Bronze Age.
More at Science Daily, Oldest Written Document Ever Found in Jerusalem Discovered