Seal Impression of King Hezekiah found with the Assistance of the Sifting Project
Eilat Mazar, who directs the Ophel excavation south to the Temple Mount, announced today that a bulla was found bearing the name of King Hezekiah. This seal impression was found in 2010 in our sifting facility in Tzurim Valley, when we assisted with wet-sifting earth layers from the her excavation.
Up until recently, the reading of this bulla was ‘יחזקיהו … מלכיהו (Hezekiyahu ?? Maliyahu), but when Reut ben-Ariyeh, who studied the seal impressions from the Ophel excavation, notice a dot between מלכ and יהו and the unclear letter of the second name, then the reading became : Hezekiyah (son of) Ahaz King of Judah
This is the first time that a Judean king seal or seal impression is found by a controlled archaeological excavation!
See full media announcement at:
http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/28173
why was an Egyptian ankh on the seal?
I’m not familiar with so many things but a cursory review with a search engine revealed it symbolized life in more that the Egyptian realm.You can find more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankh and also within the article further down there is mention of it. Hope the upcoming holidays are filled with fun for you! Rick =)
Vicki: In those days Egypt was still a regional empire and influenced all its surroundings. See Mazar’s explanation to the symbols on the seal:
http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/28173
Olive tree -if you look its an olive tree and a basket or box next to it
If you look at the Magdala stone, the inner part of the temple shows pillars with six ” fronds”
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magdala_Stone_(5).jpg
I wonder if it represents part of the inner sanctum of the second temple?