Extremely rare 2,000-year-old Jewish inscription discovered under preschool construction site

A wall full of inscriptions and drawings, believed to be from the period of the Second Temple, was found underneath a construction site of a preschool during a routine archaeological inspection. Authorities were surprised to find such an intriguing and rare message with that amount of composition and the state of preservation.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - In Jerusalem, archaeological inspections are a routine before pushing construction. Two months ago, a ritual bath was found under the site of a soon-to-be constructed preschool, however, it is the miqwe's walls authorities found intriguing.

The Israel Antiquities Authority explained that the walls were treated with an ancient plaster that left the inscriptions and drawings well-preserved, despite being created about 2,000 years ago.

"The inscriptions are Aramaic and written in cursive Hebrew script, which was customary at the end of the Second Temple period. Among the symbols that are drawn are a boat, palm trees and various plant species, and possibly even a menorah," said the authority.

The paintings and message were reportedly written using mud, soot and incising. According to the excavation directors, Royee Greenwald and Alexander Wiegmann, the new discovery is something very important.

"Such a concentration of inscriptions and symbols from the Second Temple period at one archaeological site, and in such a state of preservation, is rare and unique and most intriguing," Greenwald and Wiegmann said in a joint statement. "On the one hand, the symbols can be interpreted as secular, and on the other as symbols of religious significance and deep spirituality."

Although the message-filled drawings and inscriptions remain to be seen, the excavation directors said it is a reflection of the time of the Second Temple. Strikingly, "menorah" is a suspected drawing, which according to history was not depicted in drawings at that time.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'