King Hezekiah bulla

The King Hezekiah bulla is a 3 mm thick soft bulla (piece of clay with the impression of a seal) measuring 13 × 12 mm (½ in × ½ in). It was found in an archaeological excavation together with 33 other seals, figurines and ceramics, in an ancient refuse dump adjacent to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar.

Description

The bulla, excavated in 2009–2010 and released in 2015 by Dr. Eilat Mazar, was dated to the reign of Judean king

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.

Location

The building in which the bulla was found had been an administrative or royal building that the

Israelite or Judean king has ever come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation.^[1]

King Hezekiah

The bulla attests that Jerusalem in King Hezekiah's time had a highly developed administrative system.[2] Commenting 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.^{[citation needed]}

The

Hebrew University had unearthed some of the earliest artifacts ever found in Jerusalem dating as far back as the 12th and 11th centuries BCE.^[3]

Text

Text	𐤋𐤇‬𐤆𐤒𐤉‬𐤄𐤅𐤀𐤇 ‬𐤆𐤌𐤋𐤊 𐤉‬𐤄𐤃𐤄
Transliteration	lḥzqyhw ’ḥz mlk yhdh
Translation	of Hezekiah (son of) Ahaz, king of Judah

References

^ "Impression of King Hezekiah's royal seal discovered in excavations in Jerusalem: First seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king ever exposed in situ in a scientific archaeological excavation". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
^ Fridman, Julia (2016). "Hezekiah Seal Proves Ancient Jerusalem Was a Major Judahite Capital". Haaretz. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
^ ^a ^b "Seal bearing name of Judean king found in Jerusalem". Retrieved 2018-02-23.

[1] "Impression of King Hezekiah's royal seal discovered in excavations in Jerusalem: First seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king ever exposed in situ in a scientific archaeological excavation". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2018-02-23.

[2] Fridman, Julia (2016). "Hezekiah Seal Proves Ancient Jerusalem Was a Major Judahite Capital". Haaretz. Retrieved 2018-02-23.

[times-3] "Seal bearing name of Judean king found in Jerusalem". Retrieved 2018-02-23.

[1]

[3]