An ancient inscription found on Mount Zion in the biblical Jerusalem revealed a previously unknown relationship between the two nations.
Archaeologists have found a 500-year-old ceramic plate with Chinese characters that read: ‘We will protect the spring forever.’
They called it ‘the first research evidence of the economic and political connections between the early Ottoman Empire, the Holy Land of Israel and the Imperial. China‘ – but the meaning of this word is unknown.
‘All of us, we were very happy (with) this find in general because it was unexpected,’ said the archaeologist who found it, Michael Chernin with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
When the authority has worked on Mount Zion to excavate the site for the past three years and Germany‘s Protestant Institute of Archaeology, no group could speak with certainty about the meaning of the plate’s centuries-old decorated message.
The researchers said that these ‘interesting inscriptions’ may show ‘the remarkable Ottoman treatment of Chinese pottery, which was known throughout the world for its fine clay.’
But archaeologists who made the discovery have focused on visual analysis of the object, which was found between 1520 and 1570, saying it may have arrived via pre-existing Chinese trading posts. BeirutTripoli is Jerusalem.
‘This poetic message in Chinese, found in such an unlikely place, adds a beautiful new chapter to the story of Jerusalem,’ IAA director Eli Escusido said. ‘It’s a tangible reminder of how connected the world was, even hundreds of years ago.’
‘Forever we will protect the eternal spring.’ That’s the obscure word found on a Chinese clay tablet (above) that was recently unearthed at the site where the Bible was dug atop Mount Zion in Israel.
The nearly 500-year-old plant, believed to be a relic of a Ming Dynasty plate, was found in the shadow of the ‘Church of the Dormition’ (above) – built to honor the site where the Virgin Mary believed. die – on top of the highest mountain in Jerusalem
In the New Testament, Mount Zion is used metaphorically for the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy, eternal city of God.
The first time the word Zion is mentioned in the Bible is in 2 Samuel 5:7, when ‘David captured the fortress of Zion, which is the City of David.
Although it is true that ancient Chinese ceramics have been found in the Holy Land before, the Mount Zion shard is the first known to have an authentic inscription.
Researchers have also discovered, however, an ancient hoax of the most sought-after Chinese ceramics, meaningless attempts at the Chinese text for ‘health’.
Beneficial, peaceful contact between Jewish and Chinese traders, in fact, dates back to the Old Testament, with a passage in the book of Isaiah (49:12) that makes foreigners use the Hebrew word for China, ‘Sin’ and Sinim. .
Behold, these shall come from afar; and behold, these are from the north and the west, and these are from the land of Sinim.
Although they disagree, some scholars like the 19th century English Particular Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon They have also argued that one of the three wise men from the east to visit Jesus at the time of Jesus’ birth came from the land of Sinim.
However, historians and archaeologists say that the first well-documented contact between Jews and Chinese people dates back to the 10th century, when traders from the Holy Land established an outpost in Kaifeng, in Henan province.
Still known as the ‘Kaifeng Jews’ to this day, this small group may have started gradually from the 7th or 8th century during the Tang and Song Dynasties in China, according to historians.
Traders along the Silk Road traded spices and brought other valuable items such as pottery to the Holy Land, the Ottomans followed carving methods.
‘The Chinese realized that the Ottomans wanted white Chinese pottery,’ according to Hebrew University potter Anna de Vincenz, who helped create the new days.
The excavation site at Mount Zion has many treacherous and complex sections, all of which are recorded in history. Above, a team led by British-born archaeologist, Professor Shimon Gibson, is working to unearth Byzantine-era buildings buried deep inside Mount Zion.
Above, the Director General of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology, Dr Dieter Vieweger, holds a new piece with IAA archaeologist Michael Chernin (left) and fellow Protestant Institute postdoctoral researcher Dr Jennifer Zimmi (right)
Above, Prof Gibson looks at other excavations on Mount Zion from a crane – not far from where the IAA and Germany’s Protestant Institute of Archeology found Chinese ceramics.
“They started making ceramics to export to Europe,” Dr de Vincenz told the newspaper Haaretz. ‘It was called export porcelain.’
Dr de Vincenz explained that he was able to gain this confidence from the way it was written, which he said was from the 16th century.
A scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jingchao Chen, finally he interpreted the mysterious words written on the plates.
Trade between the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty flourished in the 16th century, leaving a record of at least 20 Ottoman envoys visiting the imperial court in Beijing during this period.
The Mount Zion dig site, however, tells the story of ancient times and kingdoms, the team discovered, with new ones coming up next to the remains of an ancient Christian church called Hagia Sion.
Built by Emperor Constantine, Hagia Sion was once called the ‘Mother of All Churches,’ until it was destroyed by the Persians in 614 AD.
“We dug here,” Protestant Institute doctoral researcher Dr Jennifer Zimmi told i24 reporters, “in an area called the Greek Garden. Here near the church, the famous Hagia Sion.”
‘It is interesting,’ said IAA director Escusido, ‘to find evidence of these relationships in real words, written in Chinese, and in unexpected places.’
