The ostracon is one of the two shards of pottery found in the House of Ahi'el, that bears the name of Ahi'el. The script on the shard has five partial lines and is written in an early Hebrew script dating to the seventh century BCE.
This small piece of pottery testifies to one who witnessed the sacking of Jerusalem and subsequent exile of its captives. The person who wrote this text witnessed this event. Remains of the house of Ahiel belonging to a man named Ahiel, as seen from the east.
The script reads (translation may not be accurate) from right to left
belongs to
r-s-t
Ahi'el (Acht)
Ahi'el (Acht)
Inside (TS)
circa 550 BCE
The ostracon was found in a First Temple era residential structure in an area now known as "the City of David". The house belonged to a person named "Ahiel" identified by a couple pieces of pottery, the remains of a storage jar on which his name was written.
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The Madain Project is an online archive of Abrahamic History and Archaeology.
Abrahamic History & Archaeology is the study of history and archaeology with respect to the three Abrahamic Faiths without considering the religious and theological aspects. The goal of Abrahamic History is to understand how and why the religious doctrines and behaviours have evlovled and changed over time. Searching for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why and how these have influenced the three major Abrahamic religions.
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