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Professor Gershon Galil at Haifa University’s Institute for Biblical Studies and Ancient History, along with Eli Shukron from the Bible and Ancient History research institute, found that the 8th Century BC inscriptions – on a stone no bigger than the palm of a hand – not only include Hezekiah’s name, but also list his achievements from the first 17 years of his reign. Those include his commission to carve out the pool at Siloam and the tunnel to access the waters underneath the Gihon Spring. The action is believed to have helped saved the city by denying sources of water...

A 1,500-year-old Greek inscription bearing the name “Christ, born of Mary” was unearthed in northern Israel, the Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday. The archaeologists discovered the inscription engraved at the entrance of an impressive building from the Byzantine or early Islamic period, featuring mosaic pavements decorated with a geometric design. The finding was unveiled in a salvage excavation directed by Tzachi Lang and Kojan Haku ahead of the construction of a road inside the village of Taiba in the Jezreel Valley. “We did not know what to expect ahead of the work, but we knew that this was an area...

An ancient quarry near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England offers a smutty glimpse into the lives of the Roman soldiers who built the famous fortification. Archaeologists from the U.K.’s Newcastle University and Historic England are working to record the unique inscriptions carved into the walls of the quarry, which provided stone for Hadrian’s Wall. The sandstone inscriptions include a caricature of an officer and a phallus, which denoted good luck in Roman culture. Other carvings at the quarry in Gelt Forest have helped experts date the rare inscriptions. One inscription, for example, describes ‘APRO ET MAXIMO CONSVLIBVS OFICINA MERCATI,’ a...

PART ONE: TRANSLATION, COMMENTARY, AND DATE INTRODUCTION The Nazareth Inscription is a Greek inscription on a marble tablet measuring approximately 24 inches by 15 inches. The exact time and place of its discovery is not known. In 1878 it became an addition to the private Froehner Collection of ancient inscriptions and manuscripts, but the details of its acquisition are unknown. Froehner’s inventory of this Inscription simply states: “This marble was sent from Nazareth in 1878.” This is all that is known about the time and place of its discovery (Cumont 241-242, Zelueta 1-2). While Froehner did make a Greek miniscule...

A sword found in Lincolsnhire's River Witham in 1825 bears a peculiar inscription that nobody can read. ... The inscription on the blade reads +NDXOXCHWDRGHDXORVI+. "An intriguing feature of this sword is an as yet indecipherable inscription, found along one of its edges and inlaid in gold wire," wrote British Library curator Julian Harrison.

An ancient, two-sided amulet uncovered in Cyprus contains a 59-letter inscription that reads the same backwards as it does forwards. Archaeologists discovered the amulet, which is roughly 1,500 years old, at the ancient city of Nea Paphos in southwest Cyprus. One side of the amulet has several images, including a bandaged mummy (likely representing the Egyptian god Osiris) lying on a boat and an image of Harpocrates, the god of silence, who is shown sitting on a stool while holding his right hand up to his lips. Strangely, the amulet also displays a mythical dog-headed creature called a cynocephalus, which...

A small fragment of ancient pottery researchers believe shows the first wine label could prove that the reigns of King Solomon and King David actually occurred. The 10th century BC 'Ophel Inscription' was unearthed last year, and scientists were initially baffled by the bizarre language that was inscribed on the remains of a jug. A new translation reveals the contents of a jar was 'lousy' plonk intended for slaves - and sheds new light on society at the time. The label dates from second half of the 10th Century BC and was discovered in the Ophel area of Jerusalem, south...

Archaeologists have Discovered the World's Oldest Inscription in Jiroft 05 November 2007 LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archaeologists have discovered the world's most ancient inscription in the Iranian city of Jiroft, near the Halil Roud historical site. "The inscription, discovered in a palace, was carved on a baked mud-brick whose lower left corner has only remained,” explained Professor Yousof Majid-Zadeh, head of the Jiroft excavation team. “The only ancient inscriptions known to experts before the Jiroft discovery were cuneiform and hieroglyph,” said Majid Zadeh, adding that,”the new-found inscription is formed by geometric shapes and no linguist around the world has been able...

Discovery of the Second Persian Geometrical Inscription Kaftarlou inscriptionThe second Persian rock inscription in geometrical script has been discovered in Kaftarlou hill in Kurdistan province. Tehran, 25 July 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) – The second Persian geometrical inscription which was carved in Kaftarlou hill have been discovered in Akhtarabad region in Shahryar plain located in Iranian western province of Kurdistan. Due to the similarity of this geometrical writing with those previously found in Susa clay stamps and Jiroft’s inscription, experts estimate that this newly discovered geometrical inscription must have dated back to at least 5000 years ago. After Kan Charmee...

Ignorance to Ruin Bisotun's Inscription By Soudabeh Sadigh Lack of funding and general ignorance by cultural heritage authorities is to destroy the inscription of Bisotun. Tehran, 16 October 2006 (CHN) -- Studies conducted by the executive committee of Bisotun world heritage site revealed the existence of several springs inside the mountain on which several ancient reliefs and friezes including an inscription denoted to Darius the Great, the Achaemenid king, have been carved, posing serious threats to this archeological site. This is while Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) has not yet considered any budget to protect these historic evidences....

First Elamite inscription discovered near Bandar Abbas Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN -- The archaeologists working at an ancient site near Bandar Abbas recently discovered a fragment of an inscription which seems to be written in Elamite cuneiform, the Persian service of CHN reported on Tuesday. The director of the team said that the discovery was made in a cemetery from the Qajar era near Sarkhun village, adding that the archaeologists estimate that it dates back to about 1500 BC, which was the middle Elamite era. The inscription is one of the most important and rare artifacts discovered in Hormozgan...

Mon, Sep 16 2002 12:39 AM AEST Ancient warrior grave unearthed in Lebanese port Archaeologists have unearthed several Bronze Age graves, including that of an ancient warrior interred with his axe, in the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon. Excavation team director Claude Doumet Serhal said the excavations are "among the most important archaeological projects in Lebanon as they are taking place in the centre of the city of modern Sidon." He also said the warrior's grave dated back to the Middle Bronze Age, around the second millennium BC, and included an unusually well preserved bronze duck-bill axe with a...

Update—Finds or Fakes?Lying ScholarsRumor, gossip and misinformation swirl around the James ossuary inscriptionHershel ShanksIsraeli Scholars Charge IAA Committee with BiasFitzmyer Calls for Ossuary Re-StudyIntense scholarly disagreements are common in archaeology. Cases of deliberate lying, however, are rare. Is this such a case? If so, what is the motive?When I returned from the Annual Meetings* in Atlanta last November, I penned my customary report for publication in the March/April issue.** (I have been doing this in the March/April issue for 22 years.)For this year’s report, I described a conversation with two scholars who told me that they had seen the...

Britain's WWII code-breakers tackle inscription mystery By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press Writer LONDON (AP) -- The experts who cracked Nazi Germany's secret codes are tackling a 10-letter enigma that has stumped fine minds for more than 250 years -- D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M. Former code-breakers from Britain's World War II intelligence center at Bletchley Park set out this week to decipher a cryptic inscription on an 18th-century monument at an English country estate. Legend says it reveals the location of the Holy Grail. Some believe it is a private message to a deceased beloved. No one knows for sure. "The inscription is obviously...

Feature by Pat Centner August 19, 2003(AgapePress) - The immensity of its size and the beauty of its ornate architecture and magnificent artwork can stop you dead in your tracks, causing you to gaze upward in absolute awe. For anyone who wonders whether God was truly significant in the formation of our nation's government, a visit to the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, is an excellent place to begin your investigation. Indeed, in these days when government legislators, judges and misguided citizens give their all to demean God's role in American history, and cry loudly for the...