Royal Steward inscription | |
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![]() Royal Steward inscription | |
Material | Limestone |
Size | 160 cm long, 52 cm high |
Writing | Phoenician or Paleo-Hebrew script |
Created | 7th century BCE |
Discovered | 1870 |
Present location | British Museum, London |
Identification | 1871,1107.1, WA 125205 |
The Royal Steward Inscription, known as KAI 191, is an important Proto-Hebrew inscription found in the village of Silwan outside Jerusalem in 1870. After passing through various hands, the inscription was purchased by the British Museum in 1871.[1]
The inscription is broken at the point where the tomb's owner would have been named, but biblical scholars have conjectured a connection to Shebna, on the basis of a verse in the Bible mentioning a royal steward who was admonished for building a conspicuous tomb.
It was found by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, about a decade prior to the Siloam inscription, making it the first ancient Hebrew inscription found in modern times.[2] Clermont-Ganneau wrote about three decades later: "I may observe, by the way, that the discovery of these two texts was made long before that of the inscription in the tunnel, and therefore, though people in general do not seem to recognise this fact, it was the first which enabled us to behold an authentic specimen of Hebrew monumental epigraphy of the period of the Kings of Judah."[3]
The text is considered to have a "remarkable" similarity to that of the Tabnit sarcophagus from Sidon.[4]