Hezekiah seal

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Hezekiah seal

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'''Hezekiah seal''' is a 3 mm thick soft bulla (piece of inscribed clay) measuring 13 X 12 mm. It was found in archaeological excavation in a cache together with 33 other seals, figurines and ceramics, inside a collapsed building adjacent to [[Temple Mount]] in [[Jerusalem]] by Israeli archaeologist [[Eilat Mazar]]. The bulla, dated to the reign of Judean king [[Hezekiah]] between 715 and 686 BCE bears an inscription in [[Paleo-Hebrew]] script: "Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah," and a two-winged sun, with wings turned downward, flanked by two ankh symbols symbolizing life. The building in which the bulla was found had been an administrative or royal building that the [[Babylonians]] destroyed when they conquered [[Jerusalem]] in 586 BCE. According to Mazar "Although seal impressions bearing King Hezekiah's name have already been known from the antiquities market since the middle of the 1990s, some with a winged scarab (dung beetle) symbol and others with a winged sun, this is the first time that a seal impression of an [[Israelite]] or Judean king has ever come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation.<ref>http://ift.tt/2Fpwm1p attests that Jerusalem in King Hezekiah's time had highly developed administrative system.<ref>http://ift.tt/2ELRluk on the discovery, [[Christopher Rollston]] of [[ George Washington University]] said that the presence of ankh, an Egyptian symbol on a seal was not surprising as Judah had formed alliances with Egypt at various times during its history. The Ophel is part of the ancient city of Jerusalem situated immediately south of Temple Mount, the site of two Jewish temples in antiquity, considered to be the holiest site in [[Judaism]] and the third holiest site of [[Islam]].<ref>http://ift.tt/2FsgNWY at the site, a collaborative effort by the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] and [[Hebrew University]] had unearthed some of the earliest artifacts ever found in Jerusalem dating as far back as the 12th and 11th centuries BCE.<ref>http://ift.tt/2ENVdLf> King Hezekiah as one of the most important kings after [[King David]]," said Mazar. The Bible describes Hezekiah as a daring monarch "There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him" (II Kings 18:5) - who was dedicated to eliminating idoltary in his kingdom.<ref>http://ift.tt/2Fo007g>

==References==


[[Category:Archaeology of Israel]]
[[Category:Biblical archaeology]]
[[Category:Cylinder and impression seals in archaeology]]
[[Category:Jews in the Land of Israel| ]]
[[Category:Ancient Israel and Judah| ]]

February 23, 2018 at 02:26PM