As U.N. Ignores Jewish Ties to Holy Site, Israel Produces Ancient Evidence

"As Unesco, the United Nations cultural organization, approved a resolution on Wednesday that ignored a Jewish connection to an ancient, hotly contested holy site in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority produced a rare papyrus fragment from the seventh century B.C., written in ancient Hebrew, that mentions Jerusalem by name.

Archaeologists interpreted the two lines of text on the papyrus as a concise shipping document reading, 'From the king's maidservant, from Na'arat, jars of wine, to Jerusalem.'...

The authority's spokeswoman, Yoli Shwartz, denied that the publicizing of the fragment at a news conference here had anything to do with Israel's diplomatic campaign against Unesco, calling the timing "completely coincidental.'...

Israeli politicians nonetheless seized the opportunity to underline what they have called the 'absurdity' of recent Unesco resolutions condemning Israeli actions in and around the East Jerusalem holy site revered by Muslims as Al Aqsa Mosque, or the Noble Sanctuary, and by Jews as the Temple Mount, the location of their two ancient temples. The Unesco resolutions have referred to the site solely in its Muslim context.

'The discovery of the papyrus on which the name of our capital, Jerusalem, is written is further tangible evidence that Jerusalem was and will remain the eternal capital of the Jewish people,' Miri Regev, Israel's minister of culture and sports, said in a statement.

'The Temple Mount, the very heart of Jerusalem and Israel, will remain the holiest place for the Jewish people, even if Unesco ratifies the false and unfortunate decision another 10 times,' she said..."