- May 7, 2009
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Burial Inscription of King Uzziah
Is 6:1 – In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the Isa train of his robe filled the temple.
The burial inscription of King Uzziah. Photo: Bryan Windle
When King Uzziah died, he was buried in a field and not in the royal tombs because he was a leper (2 Chr 26:23). Later, when Jerusalem expanded in the Herodian era, Uzziah’s tomb likely had to be moved. In 1931, E.L. Sukenik, a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, came across a marble slab with an Aramaic inscription while examining items in the Russian Orthodox monastery. It reads, “Here were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Do not open.”11 To be clear, the inscription does not date to the 8th century BC, when Uzziah reigned, but rather to sometime between the Hasmonean and early Roman periods (ca 150 BC- 50AD), when his bones were moved, likely due to the expanding city, and reinterred.12 Uzziah’s secondary burial plaque is currently on display at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem and is a vivid reminder of the death of Uzziah and the year that Isaiah received his vision.
Top Ten Discoveries Related to the Book of Isaiah
The prophet Isaiah had a long ministry, serving during the reigns of at least four kings of Judah, including Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Little is known about him personally, other than the…biblearchaeologyreport.com
WOW! What timing.
i just studied about this king earlier today and was surprised to read about this!
I read that he was a great king of Jerusalem but he had gotten puffed up and decided that he was going to go into the temple and officiate! And when he did, many of the priest tried to tell him that he was NOT supposed to do this and he got angry at them and in the midst of this conflict, the priest saw that he began to get leprosy on his forehead and told him to get out of the temple! So, he got out as quick as he could but nevertheless, the leprosy remained and he had to move into a several house. So then, his son had to take over until his death.
I am amazed though, that archeologist found out that during the time of Herod, they found his burial place and had to move it due to expanding the area.
Fascinating!
