Byzantine Greek inscription of Psalms 86 found in Hyrcania

Ancient Byzantine city of Hyrcania (video screenshot)

(GREEK CITY TIMES) – A rare inscription paraphrasing part of Psalm 86 in the Greek used in the New Testament has been unearthed by a team of Hebrew University archaeologists working at the Hyrcania Fortress, a Second Temple-era structure situated atop a forbidding hilltop in the Judean Desert, about 17 kilometres southeast of Jerusalem.

A community of Byzantine Christian monks founded in the 5th century CE is likely responsible for the adapted Psalm 86 inscription. Dr. Avner Ecker of Bar-Ilan University, who helped decipher the inscription, noted that the writing contains small grammatical errors, indicating that “the priest was not a native Greek speaker, but likely someone from the region who was raised speaking a Semitic language.”

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The 2023 Hyrcania excavation was directed by Dr. Oren Gutfeld and Michal Haber of the Hebrew University, in conjunction with Carson-Newman University (Tennessee) and American Veterans Archaeological Recovery, a program that uses archaeology to help US armed forces veterans transition back to civilian life.

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