Jerusalem dig unearths oldest script

JERUSALEM – Archaeologists say a newly discovered clay fragment from the 14th century B.C. is the oldest example of writing ever found in antiquity-rich Jerusalem.

Dig director Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University says the 2-centimeter-long fragment bears an ancient form of writing known as Akkadian wedge script.

The fragment includes a partial text including the words “you,” “them” and “later.”

It predates the next-oldest example of writing found in Jerusalem by 600 years, and roughly four centuries before the Bible says King David ruled a Jewish kingdom from the city.

Mazar suggested more could be found in the most ancient part of Jerusalem, located in the city’s predominantly Palestinian eastern sector.