event · E0359
Royal Steward Inscription כתובת אשר על הבית
A tomb-facade lintel from the Silwan necropolis facing the City of David — the first ancient Hebrew inscription found in modern times, discovered by Charles Clermont-Ganneau in 1870 and purchased by the British Museum in 1871 (reg. 1871,1107.1; WA 125205), yet deciphered only in 1953, by Nahman Avigad. It reads: "This is [the sepulchre of ...]yahu who is over the house. There is no silver and no gold here, [only his bones] and the bones of his slave-wife with him. Cursed be the man who opens this." The title — asher al habayit — is the royal stewardship of Yeshayahu 22, where Shevna, "who is over the house," is rebuked for hewing himself a tomb on high; if the broken name is restored [Shevan]yahu, this lintel is that very tomb's.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- כתובת אשר על הבית
- Also known as
- Shebna Lintel, Silwan Tomb Inscription
- Era
- bible
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3213 AM — Chizkiyahu's court era on the atlas's schematic chronology
- Civil (computed)
- 3213 AM · 548 BCE (trad.)
- Academic
- c. 700 BCE
- Date range
- c. 700 BCE (7th-century BCE range); tomb lintel from the Silwan necropolis, Jerusalem
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Jerusalem
Why it matters
Yeshayahu's rebuke of one royal official is startlingly specific: "Go to this steward, to Shevna who is over the house: What have you here, and whom have you here, that you have hewn yourself here a tomb — hewing his tomb on high, carving a dwelling for himself in the rock?" On the cliff facing the City of David, exactly where the courtiers of that generation cut their tombs on high, this lintel names its owner "...yahu who is over the house" — the very title, the right period, a grand rock-cut tomb. The name's first half is broken away, and honesty requires saying so: the restoration "Shevanyahu" — Shevna — is a conjecture, strong and widely entertained, but a conjecture. What is certain is arresting enough: a member of Chizkiyahu's officeholder class, in stone, bearing the office Yeshayahu names — quite possibly the navi's specific rebuke with a physical address.
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| The lintel was discovered by Charles Clermont-Ganneau in 1870 over the entrance of a rock-cut tomb in Silwan, purchased by the British Museum in 1871 (reg. 1871,1107.1; WA 125205), and is displayed in the Levant gallery with two companion inscriptions from the same necropolis. It was the first ancient Hebrew inscription found in modern times, but its worn paleo-Hebrew resisted reading until Nahman Avigad's decipherment in 1953. | archaeology external | ★★★★★ | |
| Avigad's reading: "This is [the sepulchre of ...]yahu who is over the house. There is no silver and no gold here, [only his bones] and the bones of his slave-wife (amato) with him. Cursed be the man who opens this." The owner's name survives only in its theophoric ending; his office, asher al habayit — "who is over the house" — was the highest stewardship of the Judean court. | archaeology | ★★★★★ | |
| Yeshayahu 22 rebukes Shevna, "who is over the house," precisely for hewing himself a lofty rock-cut tomb — and this lintel, from a lofty rock-cut tomb of that period, in the necropolis facing the royal city, belongs to an "...yahu who is over the house." The restoration [Shevan]yahu (via the hypocoristic Shevna ~ Shevanyahu) would make this the very tomb the navi pointed at. The identification is a plausible conjecture — the office and period fit; the name is broken — and it is graded here as such, not as a reading.
Object authenticated and undisputed; the Shevna identification is conjectural, per the ballot's honesty flag. Avigad himself proposed it with the same caution.
|
biblical archaeology reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ | |
| The AM placement (c. 3213) sets the lintel in Chizkiyahu's court era on the atlas's schematic chronology — the officeholder class around Chizkiyahu, whether or not its owner is Shevna. Its existence point is Jerusalem; London is its current location.
Schematic placement for the atlas timeline.
|
tradition reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |
Referenced by: Chizkiyahu