The Shebna Inscription

Title: Object: The Shebna Inscription, Object: The Royal Steward Inscription

Object Type: tomb, block

Museum Number: 125205

Description: Three line Hebrew funerary inscription from the entrance of a tomb which may have contained the remains of Shebna, the royal steward of King Hezekiah; carved from limestone; much damaged.

Production Date: 7thC BC

Findspot:

Excavated/Findspot: Siloam

Asia: Middle East: Levant: Jordan: Jehosaphat's Valley: Siloam

Materials: limestone

Technique: carved

Inscriptions:

Inscription type: inscription

Inscription language: Hebrew

Inscription translation: This is ... [the tomb of Shebna] ...iah, the royal steward. There is no silver or gold here, only ... [his bones] ... and the bones of his maidservant with him. Cursed be the man who opens this.

Curator's Comments: The cast is listed as available in the British Museum Facsimile Service 'Catalogue of Replicas from British Museum collections' (n.d.), in the series "West Semitic Inscriptions: Hebrew".

Location: On display (G57/od)

Exhibition History:

Exhibited: 1995 22 Nov-1996 29 Feb, Germany, Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, 'Die Reise nach Jerusalem'

Associated Names:

Named in inscription: Shebnâ

Acquisition Name:

Purchased through: Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau

Purchased through: Consul Moore

Acquisition Date: 1871

Department: Middle East

BM/Big number: 125205

Registration number: 1871,1107.1

Conservation: Treatment

Citation: