Medieval Hebrew tombstones embedded in London Wall.

Recently I was discussing Christian Hebraism in England with a friend. We noted that even though there weren't many Jews around when intense interest in Hebrew was revived, there were many traces of the Jews extant in England, and a great deal of Hebrew material from the time when there was a Jewish community in London, before they were expelled in 1290.

Here is a drawing from 1753 of an old Hebrew inscription in a stone found in London Wall:



This find was written up in the Gentleman's Magazine of August 1753, "Of an antique Stone in London Wall."

As you can see, apparently the reason why there were stones with Hebrew inscriptions in London Wall is because in the time of King John, in1215, some rebellious barons seized Jewish property ("such as they knew favoured the king") and afterward stones from the property was used to make repairs in the wall:



However, although it was understood in 1753 as being from the time of the 1215 rebellion, Marjorie B. Honeybourne argues that they were more likely taken from the Jewish cemetery and used for city defenses after the expulsion of 1290, giving several reasons why this might be so.

This was not the first such Hebrew inscription found in London Wall. In fact, in total six have been found. "Rabbi" John Selden discussed one in 1629 (Marmoa Arundelliana, 1629 p. 177):



and H. Prideaux included discussed the same inscription and included images others in his enlargement of Selden Marmora Oxoniensa (1676, pp. 311-14):