by Stuart Steinberg<\/p>\nHere is a list of inscriptions discovered that mention various figures in the Hebrew Bible.
\nThere are several dozen inscriptions-mostly seals, ostraca, plaques, and royal stelae-that mention individuals named in the Hebrew Bible. Below is a concise list of the key inscriptions and the biblical figures they mention, with approximate dates.\n
Date: c. 1208 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “Israel” as a people in Canaan (not a named person, but the first clear extrabiblical reference to “Israel”).<\/p>\n
Date: c. 840 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “Omri, king of Israel” and “house of David”; strongly associated with King Omri (I Kings 16) and David.<\/p>\n
Date: late 9th-early 8th century BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “house of David” and a king of Israel, widely read as “Jehoram son of Ahab” and “Ahaz” (of Judah).<\/p>\n
Date: c. 850 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “A\u2011ha\u2011abu Sir\u2011ila\u2011a\u2011a” (Ahab of Israel) at the Battle of Qarqar.<\/p>\n
Date: c. 825 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “mIa\u2011\u00fa\u2011a mar mHu\u2011um\u2011ri\u2011i” (interpreted as “Jehu son of Omri”), often taken as King Jehu of Israel.<\/p>\n
Date: mid\u20119th century BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “Hazael of Damascus” (II Kings 8-13) in several Assyrian inscriptions under Shalmaneser III.<\/p>\n
Date: c. 740-735 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “Pekah king of Israel” and “King Ahaz of Judah” (2 Kgs 16; 2 Chr 28).<\/p>\n
Date: c. 710-707 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “Hanunu of Gaza” and “Kammusu\u2011naddubi of Ashdod” (Isaiah 20 identifies Ashdod\u2011ruler Azuri\/ Yamani; Ashdod\u2011names are probably typos or variants).<\/p>\n
Date: c. 690 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “Hezekiah king of Judah” (2 Kgs 18-19; Isa 36-37).<\/p>\n
Date: c. 550-400 BCE (copying events of 597 BCE)<\/p>\n
Mention: Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem and capture of King Jehoiachin (II Kings 24:12).<\/p>\n
Date: c. 550 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “Belshazzar” (Balthazar) as crown\u2011prince of Babylon (Daniel 5).<\/p>\n
Date: c. 539 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: Cyrus king of Persia and his policy of allowing exiled peoples to return, paralleling Ezra-Nehemiah.<\/p>\n
Date: 8th-7th centuries BCE<\/p>\n
Several Hebrew seals and ostraca bear the dynastic formula “belonging to the servant of …” linked to Judahite officials (e.g., Shema, Elishama, Ahazaryahu) mentioned in II Kings 22; II Chronicles 34; Jeremiah 39).<\/p>\n
Date: c. 588 BCE (late 7th century)<\/p>\n
Mention: names of Judean officers such as “Hoshaiah” and “Ya’ush,” which are not directly named in the Bible but come from the same context as Jeremiah, Zedekiah, and Nebuchadnezzar.<\/p>\n
Date: c. 670 BCE<\/p>\n
Mention: “Manasseh, king of Judah,” and other vassals of Assyria (II Kings 21; II Chronicles 33).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Stuart Steinberg Here is a list of inscriptions discovered that mention various figures in the Hebrew Bible. There are several dozen inscriptions-mostly seals, ostraca, plaques, and royal stelae-that mention individuals named in the Hebrew Bible. Below is a concise list of the key inscriptions and the biblical figures they mention, with approximate dates. Key…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[201],"tags":[1913,279],"class_list":["post-95306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-notes","tag-archeology","tag-history"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93366,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/david-found-at-dan\/","url_meta":{"origin":95306,"position":0},"title":"“David” Found at Dan","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Henry Robinson via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 The March\/April 1994 edition of the Biblical Archaeology Review (Vol. 20, No.2) reported the following: \"It's not often that an archaeological find makes the front page of the New York Times (to say nothing of Time magazine. 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