BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

History of Bethlehem Documented by First Temple Period Bulla from the City of David

Jesus’ Birthplace in Ancient Bethlehem Confirmed as an Israelite City Centuries Earlier

This First Temple Period bulla, found in the City of David, is the earliest known mention of ancient Bethlehem. This artifact extends the archaeological history of Bethlehem closer its Hebew Bible narratives.

On May 23, 2012 the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a 2,700 year old bulla bearing an inscription reading “Bethlehem.” The discovery marks the earliest known mention of ancient Bethlehem, a city best remembered as Jesus’ birthplace centuries later.

A bulla, or stamped piece of clay used to seal a document or container, was used to mark the identity of the sender or author of a document, and was an essential means of marking ownership in ancient transactions. The 1.5 cm bulla found at the City of David in Jerusalem bears the inscription:

Bishv’at
Bat Lechem
[Lemel]ekh

Ancient Bethlehem plays a central role in the Hebrew Bible before its New Testament prominence as Jesus’ birthplace. First mentioned in the Bible as Ephrath in Genesis 35 during the burial of Rachel,* ancient Bethlehem played an important role in the life (and birth) of King David. The city, located just 5 miles south of Jerusalem, is best known from the Gospels as Jesus’ birthplace.**

BethlehemDespite the extended Biblical history of the city, the discovery of the bulla is the first archaeological evidence extending the history of Bethlehem to a First Temple Period Israelite city.

Excavation director Eli Shukron gave a dramatic interpretation of the bulla in the IAA press release.

“It seems that in the seventh year of the reign of a king (it is unclear if the king referred to here is Hezekiah, Manasseh or Josiah), a shipment was dispatched from Bethlehem to the king in Jerusalem. The bulla we found belongs to the group of “fiscal” bullae – administrative bullae used to seal tax shipments remitted to the taxation system of the Kingdom of Judah in the late eighth and seventh centuries BCE. The tax could have been paid in the form of silver or agricultural produce such as wine or wheat”. Shukron emphasizes,” this is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible, in an inscription from the First Temple period, which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the Kingdom of Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods.”


Notes

* See Steve Mason’s sidebar “Where Was Jesus Born?: Bethlehem in the Bible” from the article “O Little Town of…. Nazareth?” as it appeared in Bible Review, Feb 2000, 37.

** See Jerome Murphy-O’Connor’s “Where Was Jesus Born? Bethlehem… Of Course” as it appeared in Bible Review, Feb 2000, 40-45, 50.


This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on May 23, 2012.


5 Responses

  1. Dennis says:

    Too bad it is the wrong Bethlehem! Jesus was most likely born in Bethlehem of Zebulun in Galilee 6 miles (10km) from Nazareth, rather than down south in Bethlehem of Judea 90 miles (145km). The former is less than a day’s walk while the latter would take at least a week. However, the Romans NEVER required people to travel to a different region from where they lived, as all their censuses were local rather than empire wide.

  2. Artifak: Bulla Bethlehem | Natal 25 Desember says:

    […] 1http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/earliest-history-of-bethlehem-documented-by-first-temple-pe… ; akses 30/4/2015 15:20 2http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1938 ; akses 30/4/2015 15:23 […]

  3. Robert Deutsch says:

    The inscription is of a fiscal bulla: 1) Date, 2) City name, 3) the term LMLK (belonging or to the kink). Yet, there was a small error in the reading by Shukrun. The name of the town has to be restored as: [B]YT LHM, which is indeed the town of Beit-Lehem.

    Robert Deutsch

  4. First time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible,discovery of a 2,700 year old bulla. | occupy illuminati says:

    […] http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org… The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a 2,700 year old bulla bearing the an inscription reading “Bethlehem” on Wednesday, May 23rd. The discovery marks the earliest known mention of ancient Bethlehem, a city best remembered as Jesus’ birthplace centuries later. […]

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5 Responses

  1. Dennis says:

    Too bad it is the wrong Bethlehem! Jesus was most likely born in Bethlehem of Zebulun in Galilee 6 miles (10km) from Nazareth, rather than down south in Bethlehem of Judea 90 miles (145km). The former is less than a day’s walk while the latter would take at least a week. However, the Romans NEVER required people to travel to a different region from where they lived, as all their censuses were local rather than empire wide.

  2. Artifak: Bulla Bethlehem | Natal 25 Desember says:

    […] 1http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/earliest-history-of-bethlehem-documented-by-first-temple-pe… ; akses 30/4/2015 15:20 2http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1938 ; akses 30/4/2015 15:23 […]

  3. Robert Deutsch says:

    The inscription is of a fiscal bulla: 1) Date, 2) City name, 3) the term LMLK (belonging or to the kink). Yet, there was a small error in the reading by Shukrun. The name of the town has to be restored as: [B]YT LHM, which is indeed the town of Beit-Lehem.

    Robert Deutsch

  4. First time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible,discovery of a 2,700 year old bulla. | occupy illuminati says:

    […] http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org… The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a 2,700 year old bulla bearing the an inscription reading “Bethlehem” on Wednesday, May 23rd. The discovery marks the earliest known mention of ancient Bethlehem, a city best remembered as Jesus’ birthplace centuries later. […]

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