An impressive fragment of a marble plaque (20 x 20 cm) bearing
parts of an Arabic inscription from the beginning of the tenth
century CE was discovered in archaeological excavations the
Israel Antiquities Authority carried out prior to construction
slated to take place in a private house in the Jewish Quarter of
Jerusalem. The house is located north of the Crusader period
Church of St Mary of the Germans. Part of the churchs
foundations and the remains of a building, which dates to the
time when the Ayyubids ruled the city after capturing it from
the Crusaders (13th century CE), were uncovered in the
excavation. Three engraved lines of square Arabic script that is
characteristic of the first centuries of the Islamic period are
all that have survived of the inscription. Professor Moshe
Sharon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem deciphered the
writing based on two similar inscriptions that were previously
discovered in the country. According to Professor Sharon, The
inscription that was found now, which dates