Trumpeting Place Inscription

In 1968 Benjamin Mazar's excavations at the southwest corner of the Temple Mount uncovered a large stone block lying on the Herodian street below, where it had fallen when the Romans tore down the Temple compound in 70. The block was carved for Herod's rebuilding of the Temple compound, begun around −20. Cut into it in square Hebrew letters is the inscription "To the place of trumpeting to..." (leveit hateki'ah lehakh...). The last word is broken off and has been restored as "to announce" or "to distinguish" between holy and ordinary time.

The stone matches Josephus's description (War 4.582) of a spot at the corner of the Temple colonnades where a priest stood and blew a trumpet to announce the start of the Sabbath at dusk and its end the next evening; the Mishnah (Sukkah 5:5) also describes trumpet blasts on Sabbath eve. It is one of the few Hebrew inscriptions from the Temple Mount compound itself. The original is displayed in the Israel Museum, and a copy lies at the excavation site.