Jerusalem

===Oldest written mention of ''Jerusalem''===
One of the earliest extra-biblical [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] writing of the word ''Jerusalem'' is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE<ref>''Writing, Literacy, and Textual Transmission: The Production of Literary'' by Jessica N. Whisenant p. 323</ref><ref>''King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities'' by Francesca Stavrakopoulou p. 98</ref> and was discovered in [[Khirbet Beit Lei]] near [[Beit Guvrin, Israel|Beit Guvrin]] in 1961. The inscription states: "I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem",<ref>''Oral World and Written Word: Ancient Israelite Literature'' by Susan Niditch p. 48</ref><ref>''The Mountain of the Lord'' by Benyamin Mazar p. 60</ref><ref>''Blessing and Curse in Syro-Palestinian Inscriptions'' by T. G Crawford p. 137</ref> or as other scholars suggest: "Yahweh is the God of the whole earth. The mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem".<ref name=Naveh2001>{{cite journal |author=Joseph Naveh |title=Hebrew Graffiti from the First Temple Period |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=51 |number=2 |year=2001 |pages=194–207}}</ref><ref>''Discovering the World of the Bible'' by LaMar C. Berrett p. 178</ref> An older example on papyrus is known from the previous century.<ref name=Baruch>{{cite journal |title=The Name Jerusalem in a Late Second Temple Period Jewish Inscription |author=Baruch, Yuval |author2=Levi, Danit |author3=[[Ronny Reich|Reich, Ronny]] |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=108–18 |year=2020 |doi=10.1080/03344355.2020.1707452 |s2cid=219879544}}</ref>
[[File:Khirbet_Beit_Lei_inscription_A_close_up.jpg|thumb|Close up of the [[Khirbet Beit Lei graffiti|Khirbet Beit Lei inscription]], showing the earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word ''Jerusalem'', dated to the seventh or sixth century BCE]]
In extra-biblical inscriptions, the earliest known example of the ''-ayim'' ending was discovered on a column about 3&nbsp;km west of ancient Jerusalem, dated to the first century BCE.<ref name=Baruch/>