Ketef Hinnom

Archaeological excavations held at the site uncovered a series of Iron Age period Judahite burial chambers, dating to the 7th and 6th centuries BCE.

This is an important strategic point on the ancient watershed road through the Judean hills, where two natural roads meet, one from the Valley of Hinnom in the west and one from the Valley of Rephaim in the east... A large block of stone 2.80 m. [9.2 feet] long, belonging to a threshold originally some 5 m. [16.5 feet] wide, was visible on the surface.

[5]According to the preeminent biblical scholar Dr. James D. Tabor, Ketef Hinnom could possibly be the site of the historical Golgotha where Jesus Christ was crucified two thousand years ago.

[6] In 1979, two tiny silver scrolls, inscribed with portions of the well-known Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers and apparently once used as amulets, were found in one of the burial chambers.

They contain what may be the oldest surviving texts from the Hebrew Bible, dating from the First Temple period around the late 7th to early 6th century BCE prior to the Babylonian Exile, and are now preserved at the Israel Museum.