Allen Browne

The Oldest Bible Fragment in Existence

One of the texts in the silver talismans is almost identical to Numbers 6:24–25, which comprises a blessing that became known in later times as one of the most sacred Jewish blessings known as the Priestly Benediction. 4 (2003), 162–163: Since their discovery in 1979, the two inscriptions etched on silver from Ketef Hinnom (excavated from an ancient burial complex in sight of the Jerusalem city walls) have been spectacularly exceptional in two ways, first, as being by any measure sensational archaeological finds — from the standpoint of biblical studies alone, one of the most significant discoveries ever made — and second, as being two of the most fiendishly difficult artifacts to document as visual images in a comprehensive fashion. In both cases — but especially in Ketef Hinnom One—the individual letter strokes, each not much wider than the width of a hair, are lightly scratched and often simply lost amid patches of corrosion and a spider’s web of cracks that seem to spring up everywhere on the delicate metallic surfaces.