Newly Discovered Seal Bears Witness to Jewish Resolve After Temple’s Destruction

Image courtesy of the Shai Halevy/Israel Antiquities Authority.



Joel Kontinen


What was life like for the Jewish people after the destruction of the First Holy Temple in Jerusalem and the ensuing Babylonian exile?

A remarkable recent archaeological find in Jerusalem’s City of David is shedding light on this question, and experts believe it reflects the Jewish people’s resolve to reinstate key societal features that had been destroyed during the siege on the Holy City.

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced in a statement that the find consists of “a double stamp impression on a bulla and a seal made of reused pottery sherds".

The artefacts date back to the period during which the Jewish people began to return to the Land of Israel following the Babylonian exile (423 BC – 372 BC), a journey documented in the Book of Ezra, which is the last historical book in the Hebrew Bible..

“The impression depicts a man sitting on a large chair–probably a king–and in front of him columns,” said the the Israel Antiquities Authority.

This might picture a king and his subjects.


Source:

Stone, Ezra, 2020. Unbreakable Spirit: Newly Discovered Seal Bears Witness to Jewish Resolve After Temple’s Destruction. United with Israel . 30 June.