Archaeologists unearth oldest written document found in Jerusalem

20:45, 13 July 2010

JERUSALEM. July 13. KAZINFORM A tiny clay fragment dating back to the 14th century B.C., which was found recently in excavations outside Jerusalem's Old City walls, constitutes the oldest written document ever found in the city, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said on Monday in a statement; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

"The find, believed to be part of a tablet from a royal archive, further testifies to the importance of Jerusalem as a major city in the late Bronze Age, long before its conquest by King David," the statement read.

The clay fragment was uncovered during sifting of fill excavated from beneath a 10th century B.C. tower dating back to the period of King Solomon in the Ophel area, located between the southern wall of the Old City and the City of David to its south.

It is 2 cm by 2.8 cm in size and 1 cm thick and contains script markings of Ancient Mesopotamia and cuneiform symbols in Akkadian, the lingua franca of that era, mainly used for diplomatic correspondence between kingdoms; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

See www.xinhuanet.com/english2010/ for full version

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