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Inscription Bearing Name of Persian King Darius Discovered in Israel
(Times of Israel-Jerusalem Post) Melanie Lidman - Eylon Levy, international media adviser to President Isaac Herzog, was visiting the ancient city at Tel Lachish in central Israel in December when he picked up a piece of pottery with scratches that looked like writing. "I immediately reported it to the Israel Antiquities Authority," which took the potsherd for testing, Levy said. After multiple scans and laboratory tests, including at the Dead Sea Scrolls Lab, the IAA confirmed that the potsherd was the first discovery of an inscription bearing the name of Persian king Darius the Great anywhere in Israel. Darius is the father of King Ahasuerus, known from the biblical story of Purim. The inscription reads "Year 24 of Darius," which dates back to 498 BCE. At the time, during the Persian period, Lachish was a large administrative center.