2,000-Year-Old Inscription Dedicated to Hadrian Sheds Light on Jerusalem’s History (PHOTOS)

October 23, 2014

4 min read

A rare archaeological find was recently discovered in Jerusalem. The discovery consists of a fragment of a stone engraved with an official Latin inscription dedicated to the Roman emperor Hadrian. Historians hope that the new find will shed light on the era of Bar Kochba and the role of the Tenth Legion at that time in Jerusalem.

According to Dr. Rina Avner, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), “This is an extraordinary find of enormous historical importance”

During the past year the IAA  conducted salvage excavations in several areas north of the Damascus Gate outside the Old City of Jerusalem. In one of those areas a stone fragment bearing an official Latin inscription from the Roman period was discovered.

According to Avner and her colleague Roie Greenwald, “In antiquity, as today, it was customary to recycle building materials and the official inscription was evidently removed from its original location and integrated in a floor for the practical purpose of building a cistern.”

The letters of the inscription are surprisingly large and clear to read. The inscription, consists of six lines of Latin engraved on limestone. It was read and translated by Avner Ecker and Hannah Cotton of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The inscription. (Photo: Yoli Shwartz/ Israel Antiquities Authority)
The inscription. (Photo: Yoli Shwartz/ Israel Antiquities Authority)

The  English translation of the inscription reads: “(1st hand)To the Imperator Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, son of the deified Traianus Parthicus, grandson of the deified Nerva, high priest, invested with tribunician power for the 14th time, consul for the third time, father of the country (dedicated by) the 10th legion Fretensis (2nd hand) Antoniniana.”

Ecker and Cotton explained that “this inscription was dedicated by Legio X Fretensis to the emperor Hadrian in the year 129/130 CE.”

Their analysis shows that the fragment of the inscription revealed by the IAA archaeologists is none other than the right half of a complete inscription, the other part of which was discovered nearby in the late 19th century and was published by the pre-eminent French archaeologist Charles Clermont-Ganneau. That stone is currently on display in the courtyard of Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Museum.

Only a small number of ancient official Latin inscriptions have been discovered in archaeological excavations throughout Israel and claims are that this is one of the most important of them.

The significance of the inscription stems from the fact that it specifically mentions the name and titles of Hadrian who was an extremely prominent emperor, as well as a clear date. The latter is a significant and tangible confirmation of the historical account regarding the presence of the Tenth Legion in Jerusalem during the period between the two revolts, and possibly even the location of the legion’s military camp in the city.

The presence of the Tenth Legion in Jerusalem was a bone of contention amid the Jewish population at the time and was supposedly one of the reasons for the outbreak of the Bar Kokhba revolt several years later and the establishment of ‘Aelia Capitolina’.

The events of the Bar Kokhba revolt are ascribed to the reign of the emperor Hadrian. He is remembered in Jewish history for having issued dictates imposing the persecution and forced conversions of Jews, which Talmudic sources referred to as the ‘Hadrianic decrees’.

The history of the Bar Kokhba revolt is known from, among other things, the works of the contemporary Roman historian Cassius Dio, who also mentions Hadrian’s visit to Jerusalem in the year 129/130 CE, within the framework of the emperor’s travels in the eastern empire.

These travels are also documented on coins issued in honor of the occasion and in inscriptions specifically engraved prior to his arrival in different cities. This is apparently exactly what happened in Jerusalem.

Preservation of the unique find. (Photo: Yoli Shwartz/ Israel Antiquities Authority)
Preservation of the unique find. (Photo: Yoli Shwartz/ Israel Antiquities Authority)

Once put together the two parts of the text reveal an especially large inscription that is quite impressive. According to Dr. Abner, “The inscription itself might have sat in the top of a free-standing triumphal arch on the city’s northern boundary in a similar style to the Arch of Titus in Rome.”

The fate of Jerusalem following the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE) and prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-136 AD) is a momentous occasion in terms of the history of Jerusalem and the Jewish people’s connection to it.

Historical evidence from ancient writers and inscriptions on coins proves that the city which Hadrian established on the ruins of Jerusalem was granted the status of ‘colonia’ (that is, a city whose citizens and gods are Roman) and its name was changed to Aelia Capitolina (Colonia Aelia Capitolina in Latin).

The second half of the inscription that was uncovered more than 100 years ago, situated in the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Museum. (Photo: Garo Nalbandian/ Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Museum)
The second half of the inscription that was uncovered more than 100 years ago, situated in the
Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Museum. (Photo: Garo Nalbandian/ Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Museum)

That name incorporates within it the emperor’s name whose full name is Publius Aelius Hadrianus, and Rome’s main family of deities.

It is expected that the discovery of this inscription will contribute greatly to the long-standing question about the reasons that led to the outbreak of the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Even after 2,000 years the inscription is in an impressive state of preservation. Once the excavation findings are published the inscription will be conserved and put on display for the public.

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