Summary: A 2,000-yr-old stone receipt carved with customers’ names and prices was found in Jerusalem, marking a historical discovery from the time of Jesus.
Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. – Luke 17:28 (ESV)
Financial Receipt Carved in Stone
A 2,000-year-old receipt carved into stone was discovered within the Jerusalem Walls National Park by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), marking the first such inscription ever found within the holy city. The find was recently published in the IAA’s archaeological journal Atiqot, according to a statement posted on Facebook.
There have been four other similar Hebrew inscriptions documented so far in Jerusalem and at the city of Beit Shemesh, with names and numbers carved on similar stone slabs dating to the Early Roman period. However, this is the first inscription discovered so far within the boundaries of the city of Jerusalem from that time.
“The everyday life of the inhabitants of Jerusalem who resided here 2,000 years ago is expressed in this simple object,” Excavation Director Nahshon Szanton and Epigraphist Prof. Esther Eshel of Bar Ilan University wrote in their study of the find.
The Jewish Inscription
The inscription was engraved with a sharp chisel into a chalkstone slab, which had originally been used as an ossuary, or burial chest, commonly found in the region during the early days of the Roman Empire (37 BC – AD 70).
“Ossuaries are generally found in graves outside of the city, but their presence has also been documented within the city, possibly as a commodity sold in a local artisan’s workshop or store,” the statement said.
The beginning and end of the inscription are missing, along with the entire left margin, but seven partially preserved lines of text can still be seen. The writing was described by the researchers as a “non-professional” Jewish cursive script.
The inscription contains names with letters and symbols representing numbers written beside them, most likely referring to customers and money paid or owed. The Hebrew name, Shimon, can be deciphered as well as the Hebrew letter mem, an abbreviation of the word ma’ot, which means ‘money.’
“At first glance, the list of names and numbers may not seem exciting,” Szanton and Eshel wrote, “but to think that, just like today, receipts were also used in the past for commercial purposes, and that such a receipt has reached us, is a rare and gratifying find that allows a glimpse into everyday life in the holy city of Jerusalem.”
Discovered on Pilgrimage (Pilgrim) Road
The stone receipt was found in a previously excavated tunnel on Pilgrimage Road, Jerusalem’s main roadway during the first century AD. The road, measuring just over a third of a mile, connected the City of David’s gate and the Siloam Pool region to the gates of the Temple Mount and the Second Temple. The massive stairway of the ancient path had lain buried underground until it was rediscovered in 2004.
Millions of Jewish pilgrims made their way up Pilgrimage Road in obedience to the command to gather for the worship of Israel’s God at the Temple during the three high holidays of the Jewish year: Passover in the spring, Shavuot (the “Feast of Weeks” or “First Fruits” or “Pentecost”) 50 days later, and Sukkot (the “Festival of Booths” or “Feast of Tabernacles”) in the fall. During the three pilgrimage festivals, every able Jewish male was called to make the trek to the Temple where sacrifices were offered.
Worshipers would ritually cleanse themselves at the pool of Siloam before taking the broad roadway up to the Temple where the road ended at the Western Wall, the same Temple location today as existed 2,000 years ago.
The distinctive stone receipt was found on this road close to the lower city plaza. It adds to other discoveries made nearby, such as a measuring table along with similar finds which help “identify this area with the ‘square’ or ‘lower market’ of Jerusalem where it is very possible that various commercial activities took place,” said the researchers.
The combination of specific architectural discoveries along with the actual square filled with huge cobblestones allow us to “reconstruct parts of the incredibly unique archaeological puzzle” in one of the most important living centers that existed in ancient Jerusalem,” said Szanton and Eshel. “Each piece of information, and certainly the ancient inscription, adds a new and fascinating dimension to the history of the city.”
Unique Underground Excavation
Excavation of Pilgrimage Road is unique because for most of its length the archaeological dig has been going on underground, and beneath the busy Silwan neighborhood above it. For years, archaeologists have been digging horizontally in tunnel-like fashion beneath the modern streets and houses.
The difficult situation required steel support beams to be installed every few feet to reinforce the ceiling above. The cost of the operation has already run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, funded by the Israeli government and private donors.
Evidence has turned up that the monumental aspects of this road were built over a period of about 10 years and were completed around AD 30. It was apparently built under the oversight of Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who is known for sentencing Jesus to crucifixion.
Conclusion
The Pilgrimage Road is in the process of being continually uncovered in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem. It is “a flagship project of the Israel Antiquities Authority,” said Eli Escusido, director of the IAA, in a press release.
“It is not a coincidence that the many discoveries which are being revealed in the excavation shed light on the centrality of this road even during the Second Temple period. With every discovery, our understanding of the area deepens, revealing this street’s pivotal role in the daily lives of Jerusalem’s inhabitants 2,000 years ago.”
What else, in addition to this stone receipt, will be found as excavations continue to reveal the places featured in the Biblical account? Let’s Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: The chalkstone inscription found in Jerusalem, carrying the financial records. (credit: photo, Eliyahu Yanai, City of David)
