Ancient Hebrew Tablet Reveals Roman Ruler Of Judea

The massive stone tablet found underwater near a city in Israel exposed the identity of the Roman ruler in charge of the province it came from.

Live Science reported that the giant stone slab found in the waters of Tel Dor, which is located in the south of Haifa City, belonged to the Bar Kokhba revolt era -- one of the bloodiest times in the Jewish history. It is when brave Jewish leader Simon bar Kokhba attempted to lead the Jews in a revolt against the Roman rulers but did not succeed.

The massive stone piece weighing 1,300 lbs (600 kilograms) and measuring up to 70 by 65 centimeters was discovered in January 2016 by researchers Ehud Arkin-Shalev and Michelle Kreiser from the Coastal Archaeology Laboratory at the University of Haifa. The duo was conducting a maritime excavation at an archaeological site in Tel Dor, which is the same area that once held the Biblical City of Dor, when they uncovered the artifact.

Upon their discovery, the archeologists found an ancient Greek inscription that was clearly visible even underwater. They then brought the stone slab out of the water for further study and to prevent more damage to the inscription.

Just recently, the researchers have already identified that the stone piece bears the name of Gargilius Antiques, a Roman prefect in charge of Judea.

"Not only were we able for the first time to identify with certainty the name of the ruler who oversaw Judea in the critical years the Bar Kochba revolt; this is also just the second time that the mention of Judea has been discovered in inscriptions traced back to Roman era," said Prof. Assaf Yasur-Landau at Haifa University, who was in charge of deciphering the text, as reported by Israel Times.

Although the rest of the text is still yet to be deciphered, Landau added that the huge stone piece may have been a base of a sculpture during the Roman period.

The Romans ruled over Israel from 27 B.C. to A.D. 476.

Underwater #Hebrew Tablet Reveals Biblical-Era Ruler of #Judea  https://t.co/sp3ZKdlPfd pic.twitter.com/EiI4pvNkg8

— Live Science (@LiveScience) December 15, 2016