The fragment, measuring just 2.5 centimeters, bears a short Neo-Assyrian inscription referring to a delay in payment and naming an imperial official known as a “chariot officer," a title used for royal envoys in Assyrian administration.

“This small fragment may be short, but it tells a very important story,” said Dr. Peter Zilberg, an Assyriologist at Bar-Ilan University, who helped decipher the text. “It’s part of an inscribed royal sealing, a clay bulla used to close or authenticate letters and official documents. What we’re seeing here is direct evidence of official communication between Assyria and Judah.”

English-language video (AI-guided narration) (Credit: Emil Aladjem and Asaf Peri, Israel Antiquities Authority and City of David)  

Zilberg worked in collaboration with Dr. Filip Vukosavović and Dr. Anat Cohen-Weinberger of the Israel Antiquities Authority, to find proper translation for the text.

Zilberg explained that the writing style and language date the inscription securely to the late 8th or early 7th century BCE, corresponding to the reigns of Assyrian kings Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal, and the biblical kings Hezekiah and Manasseh.

“The language and script are unmistakably Neo-Assyrian,” he said. “It’s the same administrative phrasing we see in Assyrian archives from Nineveh and Nimrud. The mention of a shipment delay directly echoes the period when Judah was paying, and at times withholding, tribute to Assyria.”

The piece was discovered during a wet-sifting process at the “Archaeological Experience” in Emek Tzurim National Park, a joint project of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the City of David Foundation.

Moriah Cohen, a member of the sifting team, described the moment of discovery: “At first I thought the markings were decorative. Then I realized it was writing, and when I understood it might be cuneiform, I screamed. Everyone ran over. To think I was the first person in 2,700 years to touch it was incredible.”

Petrographic analysis conducted by Dr. Anat Cohen-Weinberger of the IAA confirmed that the clay originated in northern Mesopotamia, not in Jerusalem. “The material composition matches the geology of the Tigris Basin, where Assyria’s main cities, Nineveh, Ashur, and Nimrud, were located,” she said. “It’s clear this was produced in Assyria and sent here as part of official imperial correspondence.”

The sealing – a rare evidence of written communication between the king of Assyria and the king of Judah. (credit: Eliyahu Yanai, City of David.)
The sealing – a rare evidence of written communication between the king of Assyria and the king of Judah. 
(credit: Eliyahu Yanai, City of David.)

Zilberg noted that this detail gives the find particular significance. “We know what’s inside the text, we know its approximate date, and we know it wasn’t made locally,” he said. “That adds a whole new layer to our understanding of the administrative relationship between the Assyrian Empire and the Kingdom of Judah.”

Political friction echoing the Bible

While the fragment does not name a specific Judean king, its context suggests it was issued during a period of tension between Jerusalem and its Assyrian overlords.

“This era was one of upheaval,” Zilberg explained. “The Assyrians had already destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel, and Judah remained a vassal paying tribute. A delay in payment could be routine, or it could signal defiance, just as the Bible describes when Hezekiah rebelled against Sennacherib.”

Excavation director Dr. Ayala Zilberstein of the IAA said the discovery provides “direct evidence of official correspondence between the Assyrian Empire and the Kingdom of Judah.” She added that it strengthens understanding of Assyria’s deep involvement in Jerusalem’s political life and sheds light on an emerging administrative quarter west of the Temple Mount, likely home to high-ranking Judean officials.

For Zilberg, the find represents a rare convergence of archaeology, history, and scripture. “Most of the time, we as historians are in a kind of fog,” he said. “Discoveries like this act like a flashlight, illuminating one small but crucial part of the ancient world. We still don’t know exactly which king sent or received this document, but it connects the dots between Assyrian imperial archives, Jerusalem’s archaeology, and the biblical record.”

Israel’s Heritage Minister, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, praised the discovery as “impressive evidence of Jerusalem’s status as the capital of the Kingdom of Judah 2,700 years ago, and of its deep ties with the Assyrian Empire, just as described in the Bible.”

“This rare inscription once again illustrates our deep roots in Jerusalem,” Eliyahu said, “the eternal spiritual and national center of the Jewish people.”


First-Ever Ancient Assyrian Inscription Found in Jerusalem, Proving Ties with Kingdom of Judah