2,000-Year-Old Financial Record Unearthed on Jerusalem’s Pilgrimage Road

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have discovered a 2,000-year-old stone tablet, likely a receipt or payment instruction, in the City of David along Jerusalem’s Pilgrimage Road, the city’s main thoroughfare during the Second Temple period. The small tablet, engraved with letters and numbers, was found in what was once a bustling commercial area.

The inscription includes partially preserved Hebrew names, with letters and numbers denoting economic value. One line ends with the name “Shimon,” followed by the Hebrew letter mem, symbolizing “money.” The discovery was published in the archaeological journal ‘Atiqot.

Excavation Director Nahshon Szanton and Prof. Esther Eshel of Bar-Ilan University suggest that the tablet was initially an ossuary (burial chest), commonly used during the Early Roman period.

“The everyday life of the inhabitants of Jerusalem who resided here 2,000 years ago is expressed in this simple object,” the researchers said. “Receipts were also used in the past for commercial purposes, and that such a receipt has reached us is a rare and gratifying find.”

The discovery adds to the growing understanding of daily life in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period.