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
Discover more from The Temple Mount Sifting Project
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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?