Uzziah Tablet Inscription

Could this tablet mention the name of one of Jerusalem's most famous kings...Uzziah?

In 1931 the Uzziah Tablet was discovered in 1931 Jerusalem by Professor E.L. Sukenik of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He noticed an artifact at a Russian convent located on the Mount of Olives. The inscription on the tablet is translated, "Hither were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Not to be opened."

Uzziah was the 11th king of Judah and he lived during a time when Assyria and Egypt were in sort of a decline. He was able to bring great prosperity to the land, and to restore much of the glory of Judah. Uzziah reestablished the port at the northern head of the Red Sea known as Ezion-geber. He also brought control to the trade markets, and brought into subjectio n some of the former enemies, Edom, Philistia, and Arabia. He initiated many building projects, and he brought security into the nation. But according to the Bible Uzziah allowed his pride to lead him into burning incense in the Temple, which only the priests were authorized to do, and he was struck with leprosy for this sin. He retired from public life and gave control of his kingdom into the hands of a son Jotham. It is interesting that Isaiah chapter 6 reveals Isaiah's vision of the Lord on his throne, that this was during the time King Uzziah had died. It is as though God wanted to reveal the message to his people that even though Uzziah had died and things seemed out of control, God was still on his throne.

Isaiah 6:1 "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple."

The Bible mentions Uzziah or Azariah as the king of the southern kingdom of Judah in 2 Kings 15. The Uzziah Tablet Inscription is a stone tablet (35 cm high x 34 cm wide x 6 cm deep) with letters inscribed in ancient Hebrew text with an Aramaic style of writing, which dates to around 30-70 AD. The text reveals the burial site of Uzziah of Judah, who died in 747 BC. The inscription on the ossuary tombstone reads:

"The bones of Uzziah, King of Judah, rest here ... Do not open!"

The Uzziah Tablet Inscription was discovered in Jerusalem in 1931 by Professor. E. I. Sukenik of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is now in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Uzziah Tablet is an important discovery in the study of Biblical Archaeology because it mentions one of the kings of Judah, and the Jewish authorities would not have crafted such a piece unless there was an original work to draw from. It is interesting that the Tiglath-pileser inscription mentions Uzziah four times (Azariah the Judean). Tiglath-pileser  was the Assyrian ruler who deported the Jews of the northern kingdom of Israel away into captivity.

In 1931 an archeological find, now known as the Uzziah Tablet, was discovered by Professor E.L. Sukenik of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He came across the artifact in a Russian convent collection from the Mount of Olives. The origin of the tablet previous to this remains unknown and was not documented by the convent. The inscription on the tablet is written in ancient Hebrew with an Aramaic style. This style is dated to around AD 30-70, around 700 years after the supposed death of Uzziah of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Nevertheless the inscription is translated, "Hither were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Not to be opened." It is open to debate whether this tablet really was part of the tomb of King Uzziah or simply a later creation. It may be that there was a later reburial of Uzziah here after the Second Temple Period. [Wikipedia]

Uzziah (strength of Jehovah). King of Judah B.C. 809-8 to 757-6. In some passages his name appears in the lengthened form Azariah: After the murder of Amaziah, his son Uzziah was chosen by the people, at the age of sixteen, to occupy the vacant throne; and for the greater part of his long reign of fifty-two years he lived in the fear of God, and showed himself a wise, active and pious ruler. He never deserted the worship of the true God, and was much influenced by Zechariah, a prophet who is mentioned only in connection with him. 2Ch 26:5 So the southern kingdom was raised to a condition of prosperity which it had not known since the death of Solomon. The end of Uzziah was less prosperous than his beginning. Elated with his splendid career, he determined to burn incense on the altar of God, but was opposed by the high priest Azariah and eighty others. See Ex 30:7,8; Nu 16:40; 18:7 The king was enraged at their resistance, and, as he pressed forward with his censer was suddenly smitten with leprosy. This lawless attempt to burn incense was the only exception to the excellence of his administration. 2Ch 27:2 Uzziah was buried "with his fathers," yet apparently not actually in the royal sepulchres. 2Ch 26:23 During his reign a great earthquake occurred. Am 1:1; Zec 14:5 [Smith's Bible Dictionary]

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Kings of the Bible

David
Solomon

 

The Kings of Israel (all wicked)

Jeroboam I (933-911 BC) twenty-two years

Nadab (911-910) two years

Baasha (910-887) twenty-four years

Elah (887-886) two years

Zimri (886) seven days

Omri (886-875) twelve years

Ahab (875-854) twenty-two years

Ahaziah (855-854) two years

Jehoram (Joram) (854-843) twelve years

Jehu (843-816) twenty-eight years

Jehoahaz (820-804) seventeen years

Jehoash (Joash) (806-790) sixteen years

Jeroboam II (790-749) forty-one years

Zechariah' (748) six months

Shallum (748) one month

Menahem (748-738) ten years

Pekahiah (738-736) two years

Pekah (748-730) twenty years

Hoshea (730-721) nine years

 

The Kings of Judah (8 were good)

Rehoboam (933-916 BC) seventeen years

Abijam (915-913) three years

Asa (Good) (912-872) forty-one years

Jehoshaphat (Good) (874-850) twenty-five years

Jehoram (850-843) eight years

Ahaziah (843) one year

Athaliah (843-837) six years

Joash (Good) (843-803) forty years

Amaziah (Good) (803-775) 29 years

Azariah (Uzziah) (Good) (787-735) fifty-two years

Jotham (Good) (749-734) sixteen years

Ahaz (741-726) sixteen years

Hezekiah (Good) (726-697) 29 years

Manasseh (697-642) fifty-five years

Amon (641-640) two years

Josiah (Good) (639-608) thirty-one years

Jehoahaz (608) three months

Jehoiachim (608-597) eleven years

Jehoiachin (597) three months

Zedekiah (597-586) eleven years

 

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Some Scriptures mentioning the name "Uzziah"

 

Nehemiah 11:4 - And at Jerusalem dwelt [certain] of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah; Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the children of Perez;

Zechariah 14:5 - And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee.

2 Chronicles 26:19 - Then Uzziah was wroth, and [had] a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.

Amos 1:1 - The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

2 Chronicles 26:21 - And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, [being] a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son [was] over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

2 Chronicles 26:3 - Sixteen years old [was] Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also [was] Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 7:1 - And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, [that] Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

Hosea 1:1 - The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 Chronicles 26:11 - Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, [one] of the king's captains.

2 Chronicles 26:23 - So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which [belonged] to the kings; for they said, He [is] a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

Isaiah 1:1 - The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2 Kings 15:32 - In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.

2 Chronicles 26:9 - Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning [of the wall], and fortified them.

2 Chronicles 27:2 - And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly.

2 Kings 15:30 - And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

2 Kings 15:13 - Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria.

Isaiah 6:1 - In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

1 Chronicles 27:25 - And over the king's treasures [was] Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the storehouses in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the castles, [was] Jehonathan the son of Uzziah:

2 Chronicles 26:14 - And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings [to cast] stones.

2 Chronicles 26:1 - Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who [was] sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

2 Chronicles 26:8 - And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad [even] to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened [himself] exceedingly.

2 Chronicles 26:22 - Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

Ezra 10:21 - And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.

2 Kings 15:34 - And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.

1 Chronicles 6:24 - Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.

2 Chronicles 26:18 - And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, [It appertaineth] not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither [shall it be] for thine honour from the LORD God.

 

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Related Pages:

UZZIAH; (AZARIAH) in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

Uzziah - Biblical Definition of Uzziah in Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Uzziah - Meaning of Uzziah in Smiths Bible Dictionary

Uzziah - Biblical Meaning of Uzziah in Eastons Bible Dictionary

UZZIAH in Naves Topical Bible (Bible History Online)

Uzziah Tablet in Wikipedia

Image of Uzziah by Rembrandt

Map of the Nations Defeated by King David

Messiah had to be born from the House of David

David in Easton's Bible Dictionary

David in Nave's Topical Bible

Map of the Kingdom of David and Solomon

David - The Rightful King

Tomb of David

Tel Dan Stele

Map of David's Kingdom

Solomon

Solomon in Smith's Bible Dictionary

Solomon's Temple in Easton's Bible Dictionary

Solomon's Temple History

Beersheba in the ISBE Bible Encyclopedia

Biblical Definition of Beersheba

Altar - Background Bible Study

Altar in Smith's Bible Dictionary

Altar in the ISBE Bible Encyclopedia

Israel - The Center of the Ancient World

Israel - Archaeology Links and Resources

The Destruction of Israel in the Old Testament

Archaeological Resources - Israel

Map of Old Testament Israel

Map of New Testament Israel

Free Bible - Fallen Empires (Biblical Archaeology)

Bible History Links - Ancient Near East : Art & Images

Free Bible - Ancient Art

The Destruction of Israel - Kings of Israel, Judah and Assyria

Timeline 800 - 700 BC

The Assyrians

The Captivity of Israel

Hebrew History

Ancient Jerusalem

First Century Jerusalem

The Impregnable Strength of Jerusalem

Map of Jerusalem

Jerusalem - Heart Message

Ancient Sketches