Arad Inscription, 609 BCE

Arad inscription by the last Assyrian king in 609 BCE—ostraca discovered by an archaeology student from a nearby field school who was collecting surface sherds in the Arad citadel. The student took his sherds back to the field school, washed them and found on one of them three lines of Hebrew text. Known as the “Royal Rescript.” The paleo-Hebrew inscription reads “I reigned in k / Be strengthened v / King of Egypt l.”

“Letter from a Hebrew King,” BAR Jan-Feb 1980.

See also-

• Arad Archive, 900 BCE-early 6th century BCE
• Arad Ostraca, c. 600 BCE
• Arad Temple, 10th-6th century BCE
• Arad, Ze’ev Herzog, Miriam Aharoni, and Anson F. Rainey, BAR 13-02, Mar-Apr 1987.
• The Well at Arad, Ruth Amiran, Rolf Goethert, and Ornit Ilan, BAR 13-02, Mar-Apr 1987.