Ancient Hebrew Tablet From 600 BCE Has One of the Very First Documented Requests for Wine

Researchers were taken aback when they found an ancient inscription on an item that had been put on display in a museum for almost 50 years. Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers located an ancient inscription on the back of a shard of pottery put on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Newsweek reported. The shard had been in the museum for almost half a century, and nobody had picked up on the inscription. 

The shard, identified as an ostracon, was discovered in 1965, by researchers at the Arad desert fortress in Israel, Newsweek reported. After analysis, it was found that the shard dated back to 600 BCE.

In 2017, the message was spotted by Michael Cordonsky of TAU's School of Physics and soon efforts to translate it began, Newsweek reported. Cordonsky was using multispectral imaging to acquire pictures of the ostracon's backside, when he noticed some marks, which turned out to be three lines written in Hebrew.

"While its front side has been thoroughly studied, its back was considered blank," said Arie Shaus of the university's Mathematics Department and lead investigator hired to translate the messages. The findings regarding the hidden messages have been published in PLOS ONE. 

In the past, the researchers had only focussed on the message in the front, The New York Times reported. The front messages were associated with money and were being sent to a man named Elyashiv.

The message in the back contains almost 17 words and is composed of 50 characters, as per researchers, The New York Times reported. The sender is requesting wine, assuring the recipient that Hananyahu will assist Elyashiv with anything he wants, and asking for another yet-unidentified commodity, in the hidden messages on the reverse side. Researchers found more hidden lines in the front of the shard, which discussed the exchange of silver and oil, between two parties.

The place where the ostracon was found, used to be a military outpost known as the fortress of Arad, under the kingdom of Judah. The kingdom was destroyed around 586 B.C., by the Babylonian forces of King Nebuchadnezzar.