INV. 015 · Inscription
Silver amulets from Ketef Hinnom
Miniature rolled silver amulets discovered in a grave at Ketef Hinnom, near Jerusalem. According to the book, they carry priestly blessings nearly the same as Numbers 6:24 and 25 and are the earliest known appearance of a biblical text outside the Bible.
Editorial note: Date, institution and provenance come only from the Wikimedia Commons record and have not yet been checked against the institution's catalogue.
- Type
- Inscription
- Nature
- Ancient objectThe object itself dates from the period indicated.
- Date of the object
- seventh or sixth century BCEDating from the book: the 600s or 500s BCE.
- Depicts
- Priestly blessing nearly identical to Numbers 6.
- Institution
- Museu de Israel, Jerusalém
- Image
- Bachrach44
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗
- Retrieved
- Commons API, 2026-10-14
Sourced historical context
A burial site at Ketef Hinnom, just south of Jerusalem, yielded two tiny silver amulets engraved with priestly blessings nearly the same as Numbers 6:24 and 25. They date from the 600s or 500s BCE and, as the earliest known appearance of a biblical text beyond the Bible, show that such material was starting to be put in writing.