A pottery shard measuring 4” x 3.5” with Hebrew writing on it showed up on the antiquities market. It reads, “As Ashyahu the king commanded you to give into the hand of [Ze]chariah silver of Tarshish for the House of Yahweh: three shekels.”
It appears to be a receipt for a donation of three shekels of silver to the “House of Yahweh,” a reference to a temple. It is dated between 835 and 796 BC, and thus likely refers to Solomon’s temple. If so, this receipt was written approximately 130-160 years after the Temple was built.
- This is the oldest mention of Solomon’s temple ever discovered.
The identity of this king is not clear, but it could be Jehoash or Josiah since it is similar in form and both kings had a temple official named Zechariah.