Ancient Hebrew Letters: Clues to Untold Stories

A bone seal, from the last part of the eighth century, was found in an excavation that’s being conducted in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park. Though the seal was broken and chipped when found, the name of its owner, Shaul (Saul), was completely preserved. According to the project’s director, Professor Ronny Reich of the type University of nameHaifa, “This seal joins another Hebrew seal that was found, and three Hebrew bullae [pieces of clay stamped with seal impressions] that were discovered nearby. These five items have great chronological importance regarding the study of the development of the use of seals.”

Other bullae found nearby—from the end of the ninth and beginning of the eighth centuries BC—do not bear any Semitic letters, but these five Hebrew seals do. Therefore, it has been concluded that it was sometime during the course of the eighth century BC in Judah when “they started to identify the owner of the seal by his name rather than by just a graphic representation,” said Reich.

The other find was a jar handle uncovered in Ras el-Amud (in Arab East Jerusalem) prior to the construction of a girls’ school. “To Menachem”—a name mentioned in the Bible (2 Kings 15:17–22)—is engraved on the handle in Hebrew. It is not a new name among archaeological finds, but it is the first time that a handle with this name has been found in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, the identity of the Menachem who owned this jar will forever be an untold part of its story.

By Charleeda Sprinkle, Assistant Editor