Historic Chinese Inscription Discovered in Jerusalem: 500-Year-Old Artifact Reveals Cultural Crossroads

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology have made a remarkable discovery on Mount Zion: a 500-year-old Chinese porcelain bowl bearing an inscription. This rare find represents the earliest known Chinese artifact in Israel.

A 16th-century Chinese inscription, reading “Forever we will guard the eternal spring,” has been unearthed on a porcelain bowl fragment. This marks the earliest known archaeological evidence of a link between the Land of Israel and China.

For the past three years, a joint excavation project between the Israel Antiquities Authority and the German Protestant Institute of Archeology (GPIA) has been underway at Mount Zion. Most of the findings uncovered in the excavation, led by Prof. Dieter Vieweger, date from the Byzantine period and earlier to the Second Temple period – well over 1,500 years ago. Against this background, the excavators were amazed to discover this inscription on the site, which belongs to a later period and has an unexpected origin.

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This past summer, during routine procedures for the upcoming excavation season, Michael Chernin, an archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority, suddenly spotted a colorful object sticking out of the dirt that had been cleared away while preparing the site. When Michael pulled out the object and washed it, he recognized that there was an inscription on its bottom. Dr. Anna de Vincenz, pottery specialist, identified the inscription to be Chinese. At this point— the vessel was examined by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem’s researcher Jingchao Chen, who deciphered the inscription as reading, “We will forever guard the eternal spring.”

A remarkable discovery has shed light on the historical ties between China and the Land of Israel. A 16th-century Chinese porcelain bowl, unearthed in Jerusalem, bears an inscription and provides concrete evidence of trade relations between the Ming Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire. The bowl’s presence in Jerusalem suggests that Chinese merchants may have established a significant presence in the region.

According to Israel Antiquities Authority Director Eli Escusido, “In archaeological research, evidence of trade relations between merchants in the Land of Israel and the Far East is known even from earlier periods – for example, of various spices. But it is fascinating to meet evidence of these relations also in the form of an actual inscription, written in the Chinese language, and in an unexpected place – on Mount Zion in Jerusalem”