The Ekron royal inscription
A Philistine city the Bible names repeatedly is identified by its own inscription, in place, with a dynasty of named rulers.
Named outside the BibleInscriptionc. 680–655 BC
A limestone block found where it was set, dedicating a temple built by Ikausu son of Padi, ruler of Ekron, to his goddess. It names the city — confirming the identification of the mound as Ekron — and five of its kings. Padi and Ikausu are both known from Assyrian records too.
The temple which he built, Ikausu son of Padi, son of Ysd, son of Ada, son of Ya'ar, ruler of Ekron, for Ptgyh his lady.
- Found
- In the ruins of a temple at Tel Miqne (Ekron), Israel, 1996 — Seymour Gitin and Trude Dothan's excavation
- Now held at
- Israel Museum, Jerusalem
- Language
- Phoenician script, Philistine dialect
- How it reached us
- Dug up, or still standing where it was built.
What it shows
The ruler's name Ikausu is the same name as the Achish of 1 Samuel, but this king lived some three centuries later — the name persisted, the man is not the same.
How historians use it
One of the most important Iron Age finds in Israel; it settled the identification of the site and gave Philistine history a dynasty.
In Scripture
Connects to
Sources
- Gitin, Dothan & Naveh, "A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron", IEJ 47 (1997)
- Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription — overview
These summaries are written in English for now. Translations follow.