'Biblical Temple' tablet found

The fragment is said to date from the period of the Jewish King Joash, who ruled the area 2,800 years ago.

" Our findings show that it is authentic "
Shimon Ilani
Israeli Geological Institute

If officially authenticated, the find would be the first piece of physical evidence backing up biblical texts.

It could also intensify competing claims to the site in Jerusalem's Old City, where the stone is said to have been found, which go to the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Muslim clerics have denied any Jewish historical connection with the site, revered by Jews as the location of their biblical temples.

'Biblical' instructions

The blackened stone was unearthed during renovations by Muslim authorities on a mosque compound, known to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, according to the Ha'aretz daily.

The incomplete sandstone tablet contains an inscription in ancient Phoenician in which a king tells priests to take "holy money... to buy quarry stones and timber and copper and labour to carry out the duty with the faith".

If the work is completed well, it adds, "the Lord will protect his people with blessing".

The words closely resemble descriptions in the biblical Book of Kings II and refer to King Joash.

The first Temple, Judaism's holiest shrine, was built by King Solomon and stood for 400 years before it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

'Sensational' find

The tablet was examined by experts at Israel's Geological Institute.

"Our findings show that it is authentic," Ha'aretz quoted Shimon Ilani from the institute as saying.

Mr Ilani said carbon dating showed the tablet was inscribed around the 9th Century BC.

The stone was also said to have been found to contain microscopic gold flecks, which mean it may have existed in the Temple itself.

A top Israeli archaeologist, Gabriel Barkai, said that if the tablet was definitively authenticated, it would be a "sensational" discovery.

The director of the Islamic Trust that administers the mosque compound, however, denied that the tablet had been discovered there.