An artifact indicating historic connections between the lands of Israel and China was recently uncovered, telling stories of centuries of international travel and trade.

During ongoing excavations on Mount Zion, just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology unearthed a fragment of a Chinese blue and white porcelain bowl dating to 1520–70, during the Ming Dynasty, with Mandarin characters inscribed on the bottom. Hebrew University in Jerusalem researcher Jingchao Chen translated the text, which is the earliest known Chinese inscription ever to be found in Israel, as reading, “Forever we will guard the eternal spring.”

The bowl stood out from the other finds made during the archaeological dig, which is being led by Dieter Vieweger, a German archaeologist and director of the German Protestant Institute for Archaeology. Some finds are said to date back 1,500 years. The Chinese porcelain was spotted by IAA archaeologist Michael Chernin, who saw the fragment emerging from a section of soil which had been cleared during the preparation of the dig site.

Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Its discovery emphasizes Israel’s history as part of the Ottoman Empire, with which China traded extensively. During the 16th century, several Chinese merchant colonies were founded in Middle Eastern cities including Jerusalem, and Chinese goods would have been present, if expensive, in the region when the bowl was made.

The IAA indicates that according to Ming Dynasty annals, as many as 20 official Ottoman delegations visited Beijing’s imperial court between the 15th and 17th centuries. IAA director Eli Escusido called the bowl “a tangible reminder of how interconnected the world was, even centuries ago,” saying that its discovery “adds a beautiful new chapter to Jerusalem’s story.”

In the IAA’s Facebook post announcing the discovery, Escusido said: “In archaeological research, evidence of trade relations between merchants in the Land of Israel and the Far East is known even from earlier periods—for example, of various spices. But it is fascinating to meet evidence of these relations also in the form of an actual inscription, written in the Chinese language, and in an unexpected place—on Mount Zion in Jerusalem!”

Mount Zion. Photo: Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority.

In an Instagram post sharing an image of the underside of the bowl, the IAA explained that “most of the findings uncovered in the excavation… date from the Byzantine period and earlier to the Second Temple period—well over 1,500 years ago. Against this background, the excavators were amazed to discover this inscription on the site, which belongs to a later period and has an unexpected origin.”

“How did a dish make its way from China to Mount Zion?” continued the post. “Historical writings indicate close 16th-century trade relations between the Chinese Empire and the Ottoman Empire, then ruling the Land of Israel.”

Since 2023 a number of fascinating archaeological finds have been discovered in Israel, including a 2,000-year-old chalkstone receipt, and a 1,500-year-old “magic” mirror used to ward off evil spirits.