The scrolls found in Ketef Hinom, as displayed in the Israel Museum (circa 600 BCE)
Ketef Hinnom (Hebrew: כָּתֵף הִינוֹם katef hinom, "shoulder of Hinnom") is an archaeological site southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem, adjacent to St. Andrew's Church, now on the grounds of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.The site consists of a series of rock-hewn burial chambers based on natural caverns. In 1979 two tiny silver scrolls, inscribed with portions of the well-known apotropaic Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers and apparently once used as amulets,
were found in one of the burial chambers. The delicate process of
unrolling the scrolls while developing a method that would prevent them
from disintegrating took three years. They contain what may be the
oldest surviving texts from the Hebrew Bible, dating from around 600 BCE.
