Rare Roman inscription found in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Oct. 21: Israeli archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled a 2,000- year- old commemorative stone inscription dedicated to Roman Emperor Hadrian, which researchers say sheds light on the Jewish revolt against the ancient empire.
The stone, which measures a metre by a metreand-a- half ( three feet by five feet) and weighs a tonne, was found near the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, with Israel’s Antiquity Authority ( IAA) calling it “one of the most impor- tant Latin inscriptions” discovered in the Holy City.
The six lines in Latin, engraved in the hard white limestone, are a dedication from the Roman Army honouring Emperor Hadrian, who visited the city in 130 AD and whose many building projects included the wall named, after him in Britain to demarcate a border of the Roman empire. The IAA said the stone may have originally been set into a gateway. It was found on top of a deep cistern, with a semi- circle cut through the lower part of the inscription to allow access to the water. “We have testimony in a new medium — stone — and a remnant of an original monument,” said Rina Avner, who led the IAA excavation along with Roie Greenwald.
The event mentioned in the inscription took place before the so- called Bar Kokhba revolt ( 132- 136 AD) against the Roman empire, she said. She said historians remained divided over whether the revolt was a result of harsh measures taken against Jews by Hadrian, or if the decrees were punishment for the rebellion.