We fear that the scholars have misunderstood the significance of a Hebrew inscription on a nearly 3,000-year-old pottery shard.
The fragment, dating from perhaps the ninth century B.C., contains the earliest known non-biblical reference to King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem.The inscription, in the name of King Ashyahu, directs the unknown recipient to donate three shekels of silver to the temple.
Anyone with a mailbox will recognize the true importance of that ancient shard: It is the first known fund-raising letter.