Oldest Known Document Uncovered in Jerusalem
Israeli archaeologists working in Jerusalem say they have uncovered a fragment of the oldest known written document ever found in the city. The tiny fragment is 600 years older than any written document found in Jerusalem.
The text is written in cuneiform in the ancient Akkadian language. Cuneiform documents were formed by pressing a reed stylus into soft clay tablets that were later hardened in the sun. The writing style is believed to have started in ancient Mesopotamia near the mouth of the Euphrates and dates as far back as the fourth millennium BCE.
Cuneiform tablets were often used for diplomatic or official letters in the ancient Near East. Professor Wayne Horowitz of Hebrew University says that the fragment is part of a correspondence between the royal court in Jerusalem and one in Egypt. He says what the document says is not as important as what it is.