Israel Requests Return of Stone Tablet Celebrating Completion of Jerusalem Tunnel during Hezekiah's Reign
"When there were only three cubits more to cut through, the men were heard calling from one side to the other, the Hebrew inscription recounts."
(Jerusalem)—Jerusalem Mayor, Uri Lupolianski, has asked the Turkish government to return a famous 2700-year-old tablet, known as the Siloam inscription, uncovered in an ancient subterranean passage in the city, according to an AP report. (Photo: AP—Tourists wait their turn to go down to the Siloam water tunnel in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.)
The importance of the tablet stems from its mention in the Book of Chronicles. It was discovered in 1880 in an underground tunnel hewed to channel water from the Siloam spring outside Jerusalem's walls into the city around 700 B.C. After its discovery, it was reportedly taken by the Holy Land's Ottoman rulers to Istanbul, where it is now in the collection of the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.
The report states that, according to the Bible, the nearly 500-yard tunnel was constructed by King Hezekiah. It was "hollowed out of the bedrock by two teams of diggers starting from each end, according to the tablet, which was installed to celebrate the moment the two teams met underground, pickax to pickax. When there were only three cubits more to cut through, the men were heard calling from one side to the other, the Hebrew inscription recounts."
Turkish officials are quoted as saying it is unlikely the transfer of ownership will be approved, but they may lend the tablet to Israel.
