An ancient stone seal has been discovered in Jerusalem that may be linked to a warrior mentioned in the Bible.
The black dime-sized relic was likely worn as an amulet around the neck of a man who held a senior position in the holy city some 2,700 years ago.
Stone seals were used as a sort of ancient I.D. card. This one bears an engraving of a winged ‘genie’ or ‘demon’ that has never been seen before in Israel.
Two names are also inscribed on the seal – ‘Yehoʼezer’ and ‘Hoshʼayahu’ – which are both mentioned in the bible. ‘Yoʼezer,’ the abbreviated form of Yehoʼezer, was the name of one of the warriors of King David, the king of Israel at the time.
Archaeologists discovered an ancient stone seal in Jerusalem
And the name Hoshʼayahu is a parallel form of the name ʼAzariah ben Hoshʼaya,’ which is mentioned in the book of Jeremiah.
‘It is not impossible that perhaps it was Yehoʼezer himself who engraved the names on the object,’ said research partner Ronny Reich from the University of Haifa in a press release.
This finding also provides new evidence to support a multi-national culture thriving in ancient Jerusalem, as it is described in the bible.
During the first temple period, when this seal was made, Jerusalem was subject to the Assyrian Empire.
The artistic and cultural influence of this ruling power is reflected in the seal, as it bears an engraving of a winged protective figure.
Figures of winged demons are known in the Neo-Assyrian art of the 9th-7th Centuries BCE, according to the press release.
The fact that the seal’s original owner chose a demon as his personal insignia ‘may attest to his feeling that he belonged to the broader cultural context,’ said excavation director Yuval Baruch.
But the two names inscribed on either side of this figure are written in Hebrew script, suggesting that whoever carved them held tightly onto his local identity, said Baruch.
‘This is an extremely rare and unusual discovery,’ said IAA Archeologist and Assyriologist Filip Vukosavovic, who studied the seal.
This seal ‘opens another window for us into the days of the Kingdom of Judah during the First Temple period, and attests to that administration’s international connections,’ said Israeli Minister of Heritage Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu.
The dime-sized seal bears inscriptions that provide evidence multi-national culture thriving in ancient Jerusalem, as it is described in the bible.
The seal was discovered near the Southern Wall of Temple Mount in the City of David National Park.
‘In doing so, it demonstrates the importance and centrality of Jerusalem already 2,700 years ago.’
What’s more, it offers a clearer picture of the reading and writing abilities of Jerusalemites during this period.
‘Contrary to what may be commonly thought, it seems that literacy in this period was not the realm only of society’s elite.
‘People knew how to read and write – at least at the basic level, for the needs of commerce,’ Baruch said.
The researchers found the seal near the Southern Wall of Temple Mount in the City of David National Park.
They believe that the seal was worn as an amulet by a man named Hoshʼayahu, who held a senior position in the Kingdom of Judah’s administration.
They based their conclusion on the presence of a hole drilled through the piece, likely to allow it to be worn on a string, and the high artistic level required to produce the piece.
‘The seal, made of black stone, is one of the most beautiful ever discovered in excavations in ancient Jerusalem,’ the researchers said.
The figure depicted on the seal is striding towards the right and raising one arm forward with an open palm, ‘perhaps to suggest some object it is holding,’ the press release stated.
The researchers believe that the relic was originally owned by a man named Hoshʼayahu. When he died, his son Yehoʼezer carved their names into the seal.
An inscription in Paleo-Hebrew script is engraved on either side of the figure. It reads, ‘LeYehoʼezer ben Hoshʼayahu.’
The name Yehoʼezer appears in the bible in its abbreviated form, Yoʼezer, who was one of King David’s fighters.
And in the book of Jeremiah, which describes the time period during which the seal was made, the name Hoshʼayahu appears in a parallel form: Azariah ben Hoshʼaya.
The two parts of the biblical first name are written in reverse order to the seal owners name, the researchers explain. The second name is the same, but it appears in its abbreviated form on the seal.
Therefore, the writing form in these biblical texts fits the name inscribed on the newly discovered seal, offering more evidence that it was made during the first temple period.
While the winged figure appears to have been carefully engraved, the carving of the names ‘was done in a sloppy manner,’ said research partner Ronny Reich, a professor at the University of Haifa.
This supports the researchers’ theory that upon Hoshʼayahu’s death, his son Yehoʼezer inherited the seal and carved his name and his father’s name on either side of the demon.
‘This singular find joins the list of countless archeological discoveries in the City of David – the historic site of Biblical Jerusalem – affirming Jerusalem’s Biblical heritage,’ Ze’ev Orenstein, director of International Affairs for the City of David Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
‘It similarly serves as yet another affirmation of the thousands-of-year-old bond rooting the Jewish people in Jerusalem – not simply as a matter of faith, but as a matter of fact.’
