These days, most receipts are made of paper, but about 2,000 years ago, an important financial record was recorded on a much heavier material: stone.

Archaeologists found the inscribed proof-of-purchase at the archaeological site of the City of David in Jerusalem. The hand-size rock — the fragmented lid of an ossuary, or burial chest — has seven lines of partially preserved text that mention people’s names and sums of money. These letters and numbers are likely the record of financial activity, perhaps of payment for workers or people who owe money, according to a new study published in the journal ‘Atiqot.

“At first glance, the list of names and numbers may not seem exciting, but to think that, just like today, receipts were also used in the past for commercial purposes, and that such a receipt has reached us, is a rare and gratifying find that allows a glimpse into everyday life in the holy city of Jerusalem,” the study authors, archaeologists Esther Eshel, a professor at Bar-Ilan University, and Nahshon Szanton, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement.

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(Image credit: Eliyahu Yanai/City of David)