An Assyrian Letter to the King of Judah

A cuneiform inscription from the First Temple period found in Jerusalem. Courtesy of Elihu Yanai, City of David.

For the first time, a fragment of a cuneiform inscription from the First Temple period (c. 1000–586 BC) has been excavated in Jerusalem. This inscription, which is part of the royal correspondence between the court of the Assyrian Empire and the royal court of Judah, probably relates to a delay in the payment of a required tax. This scenario fits well with the historical perspective of the vassalage of Judah over the Assyrian Empire recorded in the Hebrew Bible. It provides a remarkable insight into the Assyrian administration of Judah.

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Royal Correspondence

The small piece of clay, which measures an inch in width, preserves only 20 cuneiform symbols. Yet these few symbols provide a mountain of information, especially since this is one of only two cuneiform inscriptions discovered in Jerusalem from the First Temple period. A second fragmentary inscription was found nearby but is still being analyzed. Both inscriptions were found in the Daudson Archaeological Park, less than 100 feet from the western wall.

According to the researchers, the newly announced inscription was likely a bulla used to seal letters that were written on perishable materials, such as papyrus. This can be assumed based on the unusually thin clay on which the inscription was written, as well as its vertical curves and the indication that there was probably bone on the back of the inscription. Such bulls, used to seal documents or containers, were common in the Assyrian Empire and included a summary of the letter to help the messenger better communicate its contents. It is a very abstract, written in the Assyrian dialect of Akkadian, that the inscription contains.

While only part of the original message, the preserved text mentions a date fixed on the first day of the month of AV, likely a tax provision or other obligation provision. After this the inscription mentions a chariot officer. Within the Assyrian Empire, charioteers were high-ranking individuals who could carry messages from the royal family, such as likely the Jerusalem fragment. Based on this limited information, the team suggests that there was a delay, intentional or otherwise, in this letter in paying tribute to the Assyrian court.

Petrographic analysis of the soil confirmed that the letter was formed in the Assyrian heartland, near the Tigris River. Paleographic and linguistic analysis of the inscription further supports Assyria as its place of origin. It also dates the inscription to the 8th or 7th century BCE, during the period in which Judah was a vassal of the Assyrian Empire. Although no Assyrian or Judahite king is mentioned, the limited context available in the inscription suggests that it is likely from the reign of Hezekiah, Manasseh, or Josiah.

Assyriologist Peter Zilberg conducted cuneiform inscriptions from Jerusalem. Courtesy of Yuli Schwartz, IAA.

“Although we cannot determine the background of this demand, whether it arose simply from a technical delay or was a deliberate move with political significance, the existence of such an official appeal would confirm a certain point of contention between Judah and the royal government,” said the Israelologist, who said in a release at the time. He further speculated that it may specifically date back to the period of Hezekiah’s tax revolt from Sennacherib, as recorded in 2 Kings 18:7.

This inscription is the only known example of direct Assyrian royal communication with the Judaic court discovered in Jerusalem, although archeology elsewhere – as well as biblical texts – suggests such communication was not uncommon. “We had no evidence of correspondence between Assyria and Judah, which we have always attributed to the fact that such letters would have been written in Aramaic and would not have survived,” Zilberg explained. Bible History Daily. “We’ve waited for an Assyrian text from Jerusalem, and now we finally have it! We know of ambassadors from the Judean court receiving wine rations at Nimrod. [for Jerusalem].

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This new piece was discovered during wet chafing of excavated material from a drainage channel of the Second Temple period. During construction, the channel cut into the buried ruins of a nearby First Temple period administrative building. This led to the mixing of materials from the earlier building with the drainage channel. Although discovered in a secondary context, the location of this fragment indicates the administrative importance of the area around the Temple Mount, especially given the presence of other cuneiform inscriptions and other finds from the area.

“I spent several years studying Neo-Assyrian legal and administrative texts and Neo-Assyrian letters, which are related to the southern Levant,” Zilberg said. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t expecting such an amazing find.”

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