Bible Synapse
Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription
Inscription · early 7th century BC · Assyria and Babylon · also called Ekron inscription, KAI 286
See it on the map and timeline
- Date
- early 7th century BC (the carving of the inscription)
- Found
- Tel Miqne (Ekron), Israel, 1996. Found in 1996 in the ruins of a large temple (Temple Complex 650), in the debris of the city’s destruction by the Babylonians in 603 BC, during the Tel Miqne–Ekron excavations directed by Seymour Gitin and Trude Dothan.
- Now
- Israel Museum, Jerusalem (IAA 1997-2912)
- Passages
- Joshua 13:3, 1 Samuel 5:10, Amos 1:8, Zephaniah 2:4, Jeremiah 25:20
What it is
A limestone block carved with five lines (71 letters) in a Canaanite dialect close to Phoenician. It records that the temple was built by Achish (Ikausu) son of Padi, son of Yasid, son of Ada, son of Ya’ir, ruler of Ekron, for his lady, a goddess whose name is read as Ptgyh, and asks her to bless and protect him, lengthen his days and bless his land.
How it connects to the Bible
The inscription names Ekron and so confirms that Tel Miqne is the Philistine city of the Bible (Joshua 13:3; 1 Samuel 5:10), against which the prophets spoke: “I will turn mine hand against Ekron” (Amos 1:8). Padi and Ikausu are also named as kings of Ekron in Assyrian records, Padi in Sennacherib’s account of his campaign against Hezekiah. The name Achish is the same as that of the earlier Philistine king of Gath in 1 Samuel 21 and 27.
What scholars debate
The goddess’s name is damaged, and scholars read it in several ways.