Jehoash Inscription

The Jehoash Inscription is the name of a controversial artifact rumored to have surfaced in a construction site or Muslim cemetery near the Temple Mount of Jerusalem.

The inscription describes repairs made to the temple in Jerusalem by Jehoash, son of King Ahaziah of Judah, and corresponds to the account in 2 Kings chapter 12. While some scholars support the antiquity of the patina, which in turn, strengthens the contention that the inscription is authentic, the Israel Antiquities Authority has reported that the inscription is a modern-day forgery.

Transcription

חזיהו . מ[
הדה . ואעש . את . הב[...]
ה . כאשר . נמלאה . נד
בת . לב אש . בארץ . ובמד
בר . ובכל . ערי . יהדה . ל
תת · כסף · הקדשם · לרב ·
לקנת · אבן · מחצב · ובר
שם . ונחשת . אדמ . לעשת .
במלאכה . באמנה . ואעש
את . בדק . הבית . והקרת ס
בב . ואת . היצע . והשבכ
ם . והלולם . והגרעת . וה
דלתת . והיה . הים . הזה
לעדת . כי . תצלח . המלאכה

A]hazyahu, k[ing over Ju]
dah, and I executed the re[pai]rs.
When men's hearts became
replete with generosity in the (densely populated) land and in the (sparsely populated)
steppe, and in all the cities of Judah, to
donate money for the sacred contributions abundantly,
in order to purchase quarry stone and juniper wood and
Edomite copper / copper from (the city of) ‘Adam, (and) in order
to perform the work faithfully. (Then) I renovated—
the breach(es) of the Temple and of the surrounding walls,
and the storied structure, and the meshwork,
and the winding stairs, and the recesses, and the
doors. May (this inscribed stone) become this day
a witness that the work has succeeded,
(and) may God (thus) ordain His people with a blessing.

Israeli magazine Maariv correspondent Boaz Gaon reported that the Israel Antiquities Authority Theft Unit had focused their attention on the "Jehoash Inscription" as expensive bait to defraud a prominent collector in London. Israeli investigators linked a phony business card and a phone number to a Tel Aviv private eye who admitted that his employer was Oded Golan, the collector who owned the James Ossuary (another artifact of uncertain authenticity). Golan denied that he was the owner of the stone and claimed that the real owner was a Palestinian antiquities dealer who lived in an area under Palestinian Authority and could not be identified.

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