Artifact Supports Accuracy of Scripture
A small clay tablet, that was unearthed near Baghdad in 1920, was deciphered for the first time only last week. The cuneiform inscription, dating from 595BC during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, mentions an official by the name Nebo-Sarsekim, who is also spoken of in Jeremiah 39. "This is a fantastic discovery ... a world-class find," said Irving Finkel of the British Museum's Middle East Department. "A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."Dr. Michael Jursa of the University of Vienna, who has been studying artifacts at the museum for over 15 years, found the two-inch-wide tablet among the museum's collection of more than 100,000 inscribed tablets. According to Jursa, who is one of only a handful of scholars worldwide who are able to read cuneiform script, the text of the inscription is basically a receipt, acknowledging the payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.
A small clay tablet, that was unearthed near Baghdad in 1920, was deciphered for the first time only last week. The cuneiform inscription, dating from 595BC during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, mentions an official by the name Nebo-Sarsekim, who is also spoken of in Jeremiah 39. "This is a fantastic discovery ... a world-class find," said Irving Finkel of the British Museum's Middle East Department. "A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."Dr. Michael Jursa of the University of Vienna, who has been studying artifacts at the museum for over 15 years, found the two-inch-wide tablet among the museum's collection of more than 100,000 inscribed tablets. According to Jursa, who is one of only a handful of scholars worldwide who are able to read cuneiform script, the text of the inscription is basically a receipt, acknowledging the payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.
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