This tracing shows two Greek inscriptions uncovered on the facade of an ancient funerary monument in Jerusalem's Kidron Valley. The vertical inscription, found recently, refers to Simon the Just, a devout Jew who the Bible says cradled the infant Jesus.
JERUSALEM, Nov. 20 — A barely legible clue — the name “Simon” carved in Greek letters — beckoned from high up on the weather-beaten facade of an ancient burial monument. Their curiosity piqued, two Jerusalem scholars uncovered six previously invisible lines of inscription: a Gospel verse — Luke 2:25.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS confirming biblical narrative or referring to figures from the Bible are rare, and this is believed to be the first discovery of a New Testament verse carved onto an ancient Holy Land shrine, said inscriptions expert Emile Puech, who deciphered the writing.
A few Old Testament phrases have been found on monuments, and a passage from Paul’s Letter to the Romans (13:3) is laid into a floor mosaic into the ancient Roman city of Caesarea.
Jim Strange, a New Testament scholar from the University of South Florida, said the ancients apparently believed chiseling...
