Oldest Biblical Text Fragments

Two tiny rolled silver scrolls (amulets) found at Ketef Hinnom near Jerusalem in 1979 preserve an early form of the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24–26) and are dated paleographically to the late 7th–early 6th century BCE, making them the oldest known biblical text fragments in a secure archaeological context.

Archaeological Context and Funerary Use

Recovered in a burial chamber by Gabriel Barkay, the amulets were worn as protective pendants and were unrolled and photographed for epigraphic study; their funerary context shows how scriptural formulas circulated in private and mortuary practice before the Dead Sea Scrolls era.

Impact on Textual History

Because they predate previously known biblical manuscripts by centuries, the amulets demonstrate the antiquity and liturgical use of priestly formulas and provide a direct link between inscribed ritual language and later canonical texts.

Sources

Barkay; VanderKam; epigraphic studies

Ketef Hinnom excavation reports

Other Information About Ketef Hinnom Amulets

Barkay G. (1983). The Ketef Hinnom Silver Scrolls; VanderKam J. C. (1994). The Dead Sea Scrolls Today.