Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Nebuchadnezzar tablet on display

EXHIBITION: Artifact Of Nebuchadnezzar Displayed In J’slm On Tenth of Tevet (JONATHAN BENEDEK, The Jewish Voice).
A very unique and ancient artifact of the famous Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II went on display on Tuesday, in the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. The artifact, borrowed by the Museum from the David Sofer Collection, is a barrel-shaped cuneiform cylinder with an inscription from Nebuchadnezzar.

“It expresses a completely different perspective of Nebuchadnezzar than the way Jewish people have thought of him for the past 2,000 years,” said Dr. Filip Vukosavović, chief curator of the Bible Lands Museum, to Tazpit Press Service (TPS).

On the inscription, Nebuchadnezzar refers to himself as a leader who “likes truth and justice.”

“It is of interest to recognize how Nebuchadnezzar is depicted in the inscription,” Vukosavović said to TPS.

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The Tenth of Tevet marks the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem. More on it is here. Background on the By the Rivers of Babylon exhibition is here and links (cf. also here).