Bonus 50 - Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription

Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription (Israel Museum, Jerusalem).
Public Domain

Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription is a limestone slab discovered during the excavations at Tel Miqne that confirms it identification as Ekron one of the five Philistine capital cities described in the Bible. Gitin, Dothan and Naveh describe the implications of this important discovery:

The inscription is unique because it contains the name of a biblical city and five of its rulers, two of whom are mentioned as kings in texts other than the Bible. The only such inscription found in situ in a securely defined, datable archaeological context, it has far-reaching implications for our understanding of the history of Ekron and Philistia. 1.

The inscription is translated as:

1) The temple (which) he built, ’kys [Achish, Ikausu] son of Padi, son of 2). Ysd, son of Ada, son of Ya’ir, ruler of Ekron, 3). for Ptgyh his lady. May she bless him, and 4). prote[ct] him, and prolong his days, and bless 5). his [l]and. 2.

Scholars generally accept that the name Ikausu (Heb ’kys) in the Ekron inscription is the same as Achish, the Philistine king of Gath from the time of Saul and Solomon (1 Sam 21:11-16; Chapters 27-29; 1 Kgs 2:39-40). 3.

And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” 1 Sam. 21:11-1.

Footnotes

• 1. Seymour Gitin, Trude Dothan and Joseph Naveh. “Ekron Identity Confirmed,” Archaeology 51, no. 1 (1998): 30.
• 2. Seymour Gitin, Trude Dothan and Joseph Naveh. “A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron.” Israel Exploration Journal 47, No. 1/2 (1997): 9.
• 3. Gitin, Dothan and Naveh. “A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron,” 11.

For Further Study

• Gitin, Seymour, Trude Dothan and Joseph Naveh. “A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron.” Israel Exploration Journal 47, No. 1/2 (1997): 1-16.
• Gitin, Seymour, Trude Dothan and Joseph Naveh. “Ekron Identity Confirmed,” Archaeology 51, no. 1 (1998): 30–31.
• James, P., “The date of the Ekron inscription — a note,” Israel Exploration Journal 55, no. 1 (2005): 90–93.
• Joseph Naveh, “Studies in West-Semitic Epigraphy,” Jerusalem (2009), 359-374.