King Hezekiah's Seal Discovered in Jerusalem.

hello again fellow ATSicans,

The Fabled King Hezekiah's (727–698 BCE) (one of my personal Heroes) seal has been discovered in Jerusalem. Found while sifting in a contemporary rubbish pit this artifact became the first time that a seal of a Biblical King of Israel was found in a scientific archaeological excavation.

cue corny video....


This being the great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great Grandson of King David, is no small discovery.
This is yet another small witness to the historical accounts of the ancient Hebrews.

(JNi.media) The City of David excavations of the Jerusalem Hebrew University on Mount Ophel, at the foot of the southern wall of the Temple Mount compound, have yielded a sensational discovery: a seal (bulla) with the name of King Hezekiah (727-698 BCE). This external evidence further establishes the veracity of the biblical account of the nation of Israel’s empires going back some 3,000 years.

The seal is oval, with the dimensions of 8.6 by 9.7 mm, impressed on soft clay (Bulla) of 12 by 13 mm, about three millimeters thick. The bulla was used originally to sign a document written on papyrus and kept rolled and tied with thin twine whose subtle marks can be seen on the back of the bulla. The seal was discovered along with many pottery shards and various figurines and seals.

King Hezekiah’s bulla was discovered in a garbage heap that was dumped during or shortly after Hezekiah’s time, from a royal building that was used to store food. This building is part of a series of buildings, including a gate and towers, which were built in the second half of the tenth century BCE (the time of King Solomon), as part of the Ophel fortifications of the new government complex that connected the city of David with the Temple Mount.

Source

a reply to: dashen

Why is there the symbol of an Ankh on his seal?? also a sundisc?

... egyptian?

a reply to: combatmaster

Hezekiah wiki

Hezekiah ceased to pay the tribute imposed on his father, and entered into a league with Egypt

a reply to: dashen

Well just goes to show you what some folks toss out with the garbage... S&F for the find, cool share!

originally posted by: sycomix
a reply to: dashen

Well just goes to show you what some folks toss out with the garbage... S&F for the find, cool share!

I guess it had no purpose after the King has died. Not like he would be writing any letters and what not.

a reply to: butcherguy

Its not his signet ring.
Its a seal stamped by it.

a reply to: dashen

Is the discovery legit? Hope it is.

originally posted by: combatmaster
a reply to: dashen

Why is there the symbol of an Ankh on his seal?? also a sundisc?

... egyptian?

Yes, that's a fascinating symbol, the winged disc or the King of Persia, Ahura Mazda

thumbs.dreamstime.com...

Interesting--I like to follow biblical archaeology, so this is quite cool.

I find the historic parts of the bible interesting...the supernatural aspects, not so much.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: dashen

Is the discovery legit? Hope it is.

Good question. Has it been tested or its discovery peer-reviewed and determined to be authentic?

This wouldn't be the first time that a biblical discovery turned out to be a fake, so putting the find through appropriate scrutiny is a worthwhile endeavor.

It can't be anything but a rock with scratches until it's been peer reviewed, until a great collection of minds look at a rock, the inscription and then pass their magical collective assumption it's not a rock anymore.

Seriously I would think the ank and sun disk has something to do with the fact Israel had been conquered or at least a vassal state to another empire

a reply to: Raggedyman

actually its a piece of clay with an impression.
found where it would be expected, in the right layer, in the right context.
It was likely a letter to Egypt, with a seal denoting a royal communication.
As noted above, King Hezekiah allied himself with Egypt against the Assyrians.
That would likely explain the motifs

a reply to: dashen

I find it a bit odd that only the seal is preserved, like someone carefully removed it from the original document. Is the sample large enough for lab testing?

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Did you even read the OP?

The seal is oval, with the dimensions of 8.6 by 9.7 mm, impressed on soft clay (Bulla) of 12 by 13 mm, about three millimeters thick. The bulla was used originally to sign a document written on papyrus and kept rolled and tied with thin twine whose subtle marks can be seen on the back of the bulla. The seal was discovered along with many pottery shards and various figurines and seals.

the article says that they found several seals. this one still had impressions of the papyus twine it was attached to.
this one stood out as it named a Biblical King

a reply to: dashen

Sorry, saw the video on my break earlier and forgot to read the op. That makes sense now.

originally posted by: dashen
a reply to: Raggedyman

actually its a piece of clay with an impression.
found where it would be expected, in the right layer, in the right context.
It was likely a letter to Egypt, with a seal denoting a royal communication.
As noted above, King Hezekiah allied himself with Egypt against the Assyrians.
That would likely explain the motifs

Yeah I would think that the Israel archaeological society doing the digging was enough evidence to verify the piece.

I just though the suggestion it needed a peer review seemed a little ridiculous.

originally posted by: combatmaster
a reply to: dashen

Why is there the symbol of an Ankh on his seal?? also a sundisc?

... egyptian?

I noticed that, too... it appears that there are two different languages on the seal.

originally posted by: dashen
This being the great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great Grandson of King David, is no small discovery.

That's a lot of "greats." For all anybody knows, I'm a descendant of King David. So I guess King David really existed.

KIng David real...how cool......
you know what he did when out shepherding when the lions and bears came in?????
Scripture says he grabbed the poor muthers by the jaws and ripped em in half ( I'm paraphrasing )...like it was nothing

originally posted by: GBP/JPY
KIng David real...how cool......
you know what he did when out shepherding when the lions and bears came in?????
Scripture says he grabbed the poor muthers by the jaws and ripped em in half ( I'm paraphrasing )...like it was nothing

Obviously cribbing some of that story from the Epic of Gilgamesh.