Tiny 2,700-year-old royal seal of Judah's king Hezekiah found in ancient rubbish dump in Jerusalem

Daily Mail ^ | 12/09/2015 | By RICHARD GRAY

[SeekAndFind]

The private royal seal, or bulla, belonging to the biblical King Hezekiah (pictured) who ruled the Kingdom of Judah around 2,700 years ago, has been discovered during an excavation of an ancient rubbish dump in Jerusalem. The seal (pictured), which is thought to have been used to seal a document, bears the king's name.

[SeekAndFind]

WHO WAS KING HEZEKIAH?

Mentioned in the books of Kings, Isaiah and Chronicles in the Bible, King Hezekiah is regarded as one of the greatest kings of Judah.

He is thought to have ruled between 715BC and 686BC following the death of his father King Ahaz. According to the Hebrew Bible he was 25 when he assumed the throne.

Following the death of the Assyrian king Sargon II, Hezekiah took the opportunity to throw off the subservience of his kingdom to the Assyrians.

He ceased to pay the tribute imposed upon his father and instead allied himself with Egypt.

Sargon’s son Sennacherib embarked on a series of attempts to suppress this rebellion which culmulated in the siege of Jerusalem. According to the Bible, the siege was broken when a mysterious plague killed most of Sennacherib’s soldiers forcing him to abandon his attempt to conquer Jerusalem.

Hezekiah’s reign is thought to have brought about a notable increase in the power of Judah in the region and it became an important state on the frontier between Assyria and Egypt.

The Hebrew Bible also describes how Hezekiah made a miraculous recovery from a sickness after praying to God. He went on to live for another 15 years.

[realcleanguy]

But But, Islam tells us the Jews never existed!!!

[5thGenTexan]

And yet Liberals still believe the Palistinians and Muslims were the first people in Jerusalem and the Jews are the ones who are taking it away from them.

[Vendome]

Should a cross be on this?

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Should a cross be on this?

Hezekiah was king nearly 700 years before Christ.

[Vendome]

I understand but, a sign of the cross on the seal seems odd.

You know more about this stuff than I and probably have an answer.

[lacrew]

The cross symbol was used by the Greeks, before Christ.

[SeekAndFind]

From Wikipedia:

Prior to 2000 B.C. the cross symbol, was already in use in ancient alphabets (Paleo-Hebrew [✗], Canaanite, Phoenician) as the letter 'Tau' ('Taw'/'Tav') which corresponds to the modern letter 'T' and meant 'Mark' (Its literal usage in the Torah denotes a wound). It is probably derived from two sticks crossed to mark a place similar to the Egyptian hieroglyph

[dinodino]

Where do you see a cross? I see some text and an ankh. This seal seriously predates Christianity.

[Vendome]

interesting.

did not know that.

You guys are one of the many reasons I luv FR

[Fiddlstix]

Are you confusing the cross with the ankh symbol?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankh

[CJ Wolf]

It’s an Ankh, the other symbol also looks like a winged scarab or sun. It may have been a seal used by the egyptians to send communication to King Hezekiah which is why it showed up in Israel. (my take)

[mountainlion]

The cross looking thing with the loop on top is an Anch (sp), it is an Egyptian symbol.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anch

[Adder]

I think its an ankh.

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.M29b2f4ca999720e7e71109fe838cd263H0&w=182&h=222&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

[BroJoeK]

Vendome: "I understand but, a sign of the cross on the seal seems odd."

That is an Egyptian ankh, as the article says, "a symbol of life" sometimes adopted & adapted by Christians:

[laplata]

I worked with a liberal woman who thought the Romans who crucified Christ were Catholics.

[Pride in the USA]

ping!

[Vendome]

Okay, that’s just stewpet....