Why did the appearance of the stone tablet, the Jehoash inscription, cause such a sensation?
Inscriptions from the First Temple Period are extremely rare. In fact only one other royal inscription from this period has been found in Israel. The ‘House of David’ Victory Stele, now in the Israel Museum, contains the only reference to Solomon’s father David which exists outside the Bible. The Jehoash inscription appeared to be of even greater importance, offering the only known archaeological evidence for Solomon’s most celebrated building. It also seemed to corroborate some verses in the Bible which mentioned the Temple. The description of repairs to the Temple carried out by King Jehoash corresponds closely to Kings 2 Chapter 12. This gave the Inscription potentially enormous significance. Why did the authorities set up an inquiry? Although the Geological Survey of Israel concluded that the Jehoash Inscription was genuine, there were a number of issues that worried archaeologists, philologists and the police. The lack of any authenticated provenance was a major problem. No one co
