An ancient inscription found on the Biblical Mount Zion in Jerusalem has revealed a previously unknown relationship between two nations.
Archaeologists uncovered a 500-year-old porcelain shard of a bowl painted with Chinese lettering that reads: ‘Forever we will guard the eternal spring.’
They called it the ‘first archeological testimony of economical and political connections between the early Ottoman Empire, the Holy Land of Israel and Imperial China’ — but the text’s meaning remains unclear.
‘All of us, we were very excited [by] this rare find because it was so unexpected,’ said the archeologist who made the find, Michael Chernin with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
While the authority have worked on the Mount Zion dig site for the past three years with Germany’s Protestant Insтιтute of Archaeology, neither team could speak with certainty as to the meaning behind the ornate bowl’s centuries-old message.
Researchers suggested that the ‘evocative inscription’ might indicate ‘the awe in which the Ottomans held Chinese porcelain renowned the world wide for the fine quality of the clay.’
But the archeologists behind the find are focused on more concrete analysis of the artifact, which they have dated to between the years 1520 and 1570, saying it likely arrived via Chinese merchant colonies then existing in Beirut, Tripoli and Jerusalem.
‘This poetic message in Chinese, found in such an unexpected place, adds a beautiful new chapter to Jerusalem’s story,’ IAA director Eli Escusido said. ‘It’s a tangible reminder of how interconnected the world was, even centuries ago.’
‘Forever we will guard the eternal spring.’ That’s the cryptic inscription found on a 16th century Chinese porcelain shard (above) newly unearthed at a Biblical dig site atop Mount Zion in Israel
The roughly 500-year-old porcelain shard, believed to be the remains of bowl dating to the Ming Dynasty, was discovered in that shadow of the ‘Church of the Dormition’ (above) – built to honor the place the Virgin Mary is believed to have died – atop Jerusalem’s highest point
In the New Testament, Mount Zion is used metaphorically to refer to the heavenly Jerusalem, God’s holy, eternal city.
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 porcelain has been found in the Holy Land before, the Mount Zion shard is the first known discovery to feature a true inscription.
Researchers have also found, however, ancient forgeries of this heavily sought after Chinese porcelain, with garbled, meaningless attempts at Chinese ‘hanzi’ text.
Fruitful, peaceful contact between Jewish and Chinese traders may, in fact, date as far back as the Old Testament, with a pᴀssage in the Book of Isaiah (49:12) that makes reference visitors using the Hebrew terms for China, ‘Sin’ and ‘Sinim.’
‘Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west,’ the pᴀssage reads, ‘and these from the land of Sinim.’
Although debated, some scholars like 19th century English Particular Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon have even argued that one of the three Wise Men to visit the Jesus during the Nativity had come from the land of Sinim.
Historians and archeologists, however, place the first well-documented interactions between the Jewish people and the Chinese to the 11th century, when merchants from the Holy Land themselves established an outpost in Kaifeng, Henan Province.
Still commonly known as ‘Kaifeng Jews’ to this day, this small community may have originated in sporadic form as early as the 7th or 8th centuries during China’s Tang and Song dynasties, according to some historians.
These traders along the Silk Road swapped spices and brought other priceless artifacts like porcelain to the Holy Land, carving routes the Ottomans would follow.
‘The Chinese realized the Ottomans wanted white Chinese porcelain,’ according to Hebrew University pottery specialist Anna de Vincenz, who helped date the new find.
