The Mysterious Mount Zion Mug

UNC CHARLOTTE MOUNT ZION EXPEDITION / SHIMON GIBSON

Occasionally in archaeology, a discovery is made that has the potential to change how scholars understand a certain aspect of material culture from a given historical period. Inscriptions are often deemed one of the best kinds of finds and can excite even the most jaded archaeologists. One such discovery, from an excavation conducted on the traditional Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, is an inscribed stone mug dating from the first century CE, with some of the writing resembling cryptic scripts previously known only from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Can this mysterious inscription be read, and if so, what does it say?

“Shimon, you have to see this,” cried out Joel Kramer, one of the area supervisors at our Mt. Zion dig in June 2009, when fragments of a stone vessel appeared from the ground in layered rubble above the Jewish ritual pool (mikveh) of a house destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Excavations were being conducted there on behalf of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, on the upper slope of Mt. Zion, in the shadow of the southern Old City wall, and only a short distance from Zion Gate (see “Real Households of Jerusalem”).¹

UNC CHARLOTTE MOUNT ZION EXPEDITION / SHIMON GIBSON

Such 2,000-year-old stone vessels are common finds in Jerusalem, particularly in early Roman strata, but this one seemed especially unusual. It had a series of scratched markings not only along its rim but also within the parallel rows of vertical knife-pared facets carved along its face. The mug, about 6 inches in height and made of soft white limestone, was found broken into four pieces, with the base and internal walls smoothed. Careful cleaning was necessary, and upon removing the thin layer of adhering soil, spidery writing became visible along most of its 20 pared facets.²

The next task was to make a meticulous drawing of all the visible inscribed letters (estimated at around 100). It became evident that this was indeed an inscription, though not a straightforward one. Strangely, the writing was incised within the length of the mug’s vertical facets, which required the mug to be tipped on one side for proper reading. Much effort must have been dedicated to making the inscription in the first place—many hours of hard work, I would guess. Most of the incised letters did not seem obviously identifiable as Hebrew or Aramaic script, and there were no spaces or word dividers. Also, a couple of rows of repetitive zig-zag incisions cut along the lower facets of the mug seemed discouraging at first glance. Could this just be a succession of meaningless signs, rather than a valid, decipherable text?

COURTESY OF THE LEON LEVY DEAD SEA SCROLLS DIGITAL LIBRARY, ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY / PHOTO: SHAI HALEVI

Decipherment was certainly not going to be straightforward. After careful restoration in the conservation laboratory of the Israel Museum supervised by curator Dudi Mevorah, the mug was then photographed using various cameras and different sets of lighting equipment to enhance the fine, delicate writing and facilitate the decipherment process. Indeed, our examination of the inscribed facets under enhanced lighting revealed that the lettering had obviously been done very carefully by a skilled hand—these were not random or haphazard scrawled markings. The scribe likely used a stylus or a small nail with a very fine tip. Carving such small letters (each one no more than a third of an inch in height) in the narrow and slightly curving facets of the stone mug would have been no easy task. The person who made the inscription must have been an expert engraver.

ZEV RADOVAN / BIBLELANDPICTURES.COM

Attempts to decipher the inscription soon began. Stephen Pfann, of the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, was the first scholar to attempt a decipherment of the mysterious inscription. He seemed an ideal candidate for the task, having completed a doctoral study on the paleography of cryptic scripts in the Dead Sea Scrolls. He began studying the inscribed mug by photographing it using Reflectance Transformation Imaging,^a which enabled him to examine high-definition images of individual letters under different lighting conditions. The aim was to eliminate from his analysis any random scratches or damage on the surface of the vessel, likely caused when it was originally broken, probably during the destruction of the city in 70 CE.

In 2010, Pfann initially identified three distinct types of script in the inscription: (1) letters resembling the Cryptic A script (or “Hieratic Hebrew”) previously observed in certain Qumran scrolls; (2) a cryptic script specific to this inscription, though it bore similarities to certain Qumran characters; and (3) a few words in plainer Jewish Aramaic script that referenced the God of Israel. Among the latter, he read the partial phrase “Adonai, shabti,” translated as “Lord, I have returned,” but unfortunately the remaining words of the expression are unclear. Pfann proposed it might be a paraphrase of Psalm 26:8: Adonai ahabti me‘on beteka, “Lord, I love the dwelling of your house,” with the verb ahabti (“I loved”) changed to shabti (“I have returned, repented”). He also noted the inscription’s repeated use of the letter tsade, interpreting it as deriving from the divine title tseba’ot (“[Lord of] hosts”).

Regarding the inscription’s mixed scripts, Pfann pointed to examples from the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q186 Horoscope, 4Q259Se, 4Q324e Liturgical Calendar), where cryptic scripts were occasionally employed as specialized forms of writing to encode certain texts. These scripts deviate from the standard Hebrew alphabet, employing altered letterforms or completely unique characters. Several distinct cryptic scripts, such as Cryptic A and Cryptic B, have been identified, and some scholars believe they might have been added to conceal information from outsiders or to reserve certain knowledge for initiated members of the Qumran community. Pfann demonstrated that these scripts often appear in documents related to esoteric teachings or sensitive information, such as calendrical systems or interpretations of sacred law. He also deduced that cryptic scripts were used within the Jewish priesthood of the time. This led him to suggest that the scribe of the Mt. Zion mug intentionally mixed different scripts to make the inscription difficult to read.³

In recent years, the inscription has been studied anew by David Hamidovic´ of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, who compared it to later incantation and amulet texts (see “Deciphering the Inscription”). While Hamidovic´’s reading differs in some details from the one proposed by Pfann—most significantly, he reads shibti “my seat/throne” instead of Pfann’s shabti “I have returned, repented”—it nonetheless conveys the essential elements of this admittedly challenging text.

UNC CHARLOT TE MOUNT ZION EXPEDITION / SHIMON GIBSON

But what was the functional purpose of this mysterious inscription, and why was it cut into the side of this specific type of stone vessel? Such vessels, typically described as mugs or cups, are handmade and decorated with vertical facets along their sides. They often feature two handles and occasionally a spout. Many similar vessels (though uninscribed) have been uncovered in archaeological layers in Jerusalem dating from the first century CE. I have surmised that they were likely used for hand-washing in certain Jewish private homes, though this was not necessarily a routine activity in all Jewish households of the time.⁴

If the text written on the vessel was spoken aloud or used during prayers, it is possible that some of the repeated markings (including the repeated tsades) might have served as notations, perhaps as a guide to chanting, especially when invoking the divine name. Elevated prayer, accompanied by occasional chanting, was a religious prerogative dating back to very early days, aimed at lifting devoted Jewish individuals as close as possible to the divine. Originally, the regularity and tonality of chanting were likely transmitted from one believer to another through rote learning. However, this aspect may eventually have been recorded using scripted signs, likely in the form of a string of words and individual letters seen as divinely inspired. The goal of regularized chanting was to achieve a level of meditative inner contemplation, with specific markings possibly signifying the moments when a chanting voice should be raised or lowered accordingly. Hence, it is conceivable that some of the letters or signs on our mug may have functioned as rudimentary musical notations (neumes), intended to facilitate the rhythm of chanting during prayer or specific ceremonies associated with water sprinkling and other purification practices.

HERSHEL SHANKS

Another possibility is that the mug was used in Jewish magic. Very little is known about the physical conduct of magic in first-century Judea, except that it was likely deeply intertwined with popular religious beliefs and practices, some of which may have been associated with the process of water ritual purification. Many centuries later, in the Byzantine period, magic involved the use of amulets, typically worn as pendants or carried, and incantation bowls inscribed with warning texts to trap or ward off demons. Practitioners often drew upon biblical texts, especially Psalms, and invoked the names of angels and of God. Magic was used to ward off evil spirits, cure illnesses, and ensure success in various endeavors.

In first-century Jerusalem, Jewish religious practices were closely intertwined with rituals of purity and sanctification. These practices often involved repeated bodily immersion in water within stepped, plastered pools (mikva’ot) located in the basements of houses, as well as the daily use of stone vessels, sometimes also involving water, in both domestic and public settings. It is noteworthy that despite the challenges of procuring water in Jerusalem, certain water-libation rites were practiced in the Temple and at the nearby Siloam Pool. Such rites stand out as significant markers of the importance of ritual observance within the “City of God.” These practices, rooted in the need to maintain bodily purity at all costs, likely extended beyond the mundane, intersecting with the mystical and magical, and reflected the intricate religious landscape of first-century Judea. Therefore, the inscribed mug found at Mt. Zion, which probably served as an amulet-like vessel used to secure divine blessing, sheds new light on early Jewish water-libation rituals, their connection to Jewish magic, and the invocations, chanting, and prayers that were likely associated with them.

This article is dedicated to the memory of BAR’s founding editor, Hershel Shanks, who was deeply excited when the inscribed mug was first discovered and always wanted an article about it for the magazine.