The Shebna Inscription

The Shebna Inscription is a Hebrew inscription made during the seventh century BCE. It is written on a funerary plaque which would have been placed at the entrance of a collective tomb.

The Classical Hebrew inscription, written in the Phoenician script, reads:

זאת {...}יהו אשר על הבית אינ {...} כספ וזהב
{...} אמ {...} עצמ אמתה אתה ארור האדמ אשר
יפתח את זאת

This is {...}iah, who is over the house. There is no silver and gold. Only {...} the bones of his maidservant with him. Cursed is the man who shall open this [tomb].

The inscription is incidentally damaged where the name of the tomb’s owner is written, thus leaving his name mostly lost except for the last three letters: יהו—which is how the personal name of God Jehovah is written when it occurs at the end of proper names. The English equivalent of that would be the “iah” ending which can be found in names like “Isaiah,” “Jeremiah,” “Zechariah,” etc.

The disclaimer “There is no silver or gold” was written in hopes of discouraging tomb raiders.

The curse “Cursed is the man who shall open this [tomb]” is common among tombs in Canaan.

The phrase “over the house” (על הבית) is used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to someone who is put in charge of the household affairs of the king (1 Kings 16:9; 18:3; 2 Kings 15:5; 18:18, 37; 19:2; Isaiah 22:15; 36:3, 22; 37:2).

The inscription is known as the “Shebna Inscription” because it is thought by many that the tomb belonged to Shebna, the royal steward of King Hezekiah. Isaiah 22:15–16 refers to Shebna as being “over the house” (v. 15) and admonishes him for unrightfully building himself “a tomb on a high place” (v. 16).