Israel Renews Push for Return of Siloam Inscription

For years, Israel has been trying to get back the Siloam Inscription from Turkey, which is kept in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. This artifact, discovered in Jerusalem in 1880 and moved to the capital of the Ottoman Empire, is considered by Israel not just an archaeological find, but also "proof of millennia of Hebrew roots in Jerusalem" and an element of the modern state's "historical legitimacy."

The first demand was made back in 1998 by Benjamin Netanyahu, who even proposed exchanging the artifact for Ottoman artifacts located in Israel. Later, similar requests were repeated in 2007, 2017, and 2022, but Ankara rejected them each time.

Historian Erhan Afyoncu, Rector of the National Defense University, recalled: "The inscription was discovered in a tunnel in Jerusalem and sent to Istanbul in 1882, when the city was still part of the Ottoman Empire. We brought it to the capital to protect it from theft. At that time, Israel did not exist at all," emphasized the professor.

Today, Turkey continues to keep the artifact as part of its museum collection and rejects all demands for its transfer.