{"id":7934,"date":"2023-10-06T10:39:47","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T14:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=7934"},"modified":"2023-10-06T10:39:47","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T14:39:47","slug":"archaeologists-find-unique-inscription-of-psalm-86-in-judean-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2023\/10\/archaeologists-find-unique-inscription-of-psalm-86-in-judean-desert.html","title":{"rendered":"Archaeologists Find Unique Inscription of Psalm 86 in Judean Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"psalm
Shai Halevi\/Israel Antiquities Authority<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hebrew University archeologists excavating at the Hyrcania Fortress in the Judean Desert recently discovered a rare inscription of Psalm 86 on the side of a building stone. It reads, \u201cJesus Christ, guard me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to You.\u201d The adapted words of King David\u2019s original Hebrew Psalm are painted in red letters on the side of a large building stone underneath a cross.<\/p>\n

The inscription of Psalm 86 is one of the few Koine Greek Psalm inscriptions ever found on rock instead of parchment paper. It\u2019s inscribed in the same Greek the New Testament of the Bible was recorded in. According to The Times of Israel, <\/em>a 5th-century CE community of Byzantine Christian monks is suspected to have left the inscription behind.<\/p>\n

Dr. Avner Ecker of Bar-Ilan University noted, \u201cThe priest was not a native Greek speaker, but likely someone from the region who was raised speaking a Semitic language.\u201d A small gold ring with a turquoise stone-like hailing from Persia was discovered alongside the stone marking of the Psalm. \u201cMashallah,\u201d God has willed it, was inscribed on the ring, which dates back to the 7th<\/sup>-8th<\/sup>\u00a0century.<\/p>\n

The 2023 Hyrcania excavation was directed by Dr. Oren Gutfeld and Michal Haber of the Hebrew University, in conjunction with Carson-Newman University (Tennessee) and American Veterans Archaeological Recovery,\u00a0a program<\/a>\u00a0that uses archaeology to help US armed forces veterans transition back to civilian life.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0The Times of Israel<\/em><\/a>, Hebrew University archeologists discovered the piece at the Second Temple-era structure, located 17 kilometers Southeast of Jerusalem. The fortress\u2019s ruins remain primarily untouched. It was refurbished by King Herod and later occupied by a Byzantine Christian monastery from the 5th<\/sup>\u00a0to 9th<\/sup>\u00a0century. During that time, the monastery was called Kastellion, or \u201cLittle Castle.\u201d<\/p>\n