A fragment of a sarcophagus cover, engraved with square Hebrew script characteristic of the Second Temple period and bearing a carved inscription that reads: “…Ben HaCohen HaGadol…” (son of the High Priest) was uncovered earlier this month during excavations north of Jerusalem, along the route of the security barrier.

During the course of the excavation, public and residential buildings, agricultural installations, pools and cisterns have been discovered which range in date from the end of the Second Temple period to the Early Islamic period. The area is associated with the tribe of Benjamin, where the priests resided during the Second Temple Period.

The site that was exposed is an estate of one of the high priests who served in the Temple in Jerusalem. The fragment of the hard limestone sarcophagus cover (length 0.60 m, width 0.48 m) was not discovered in the estate itself, rather it was recovered from the debris of the later remains. It seems that the fragment was plundered from its original location approximately one thousand years ago and was used in the construction of a later Moslem building that was erected atop the ruins of the houses from the Second Temple period.

Numerous high priests served in the temple during the latter part of the Second Temple period and there is no way of knowing which of the priests the inscription refers to. However, it should probably be identified with one of the priests that officiated there between the years 30 and 70 CE.

The excavations were conducted by the Unit of the Archaeological Staff Officer of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, under the direction of Naftali Aizik and Benyamin Hareven, within the framework of the salvage excavations that are currently being carried out along the route of the security fence and underwritten by the Ministry of Defense.