Posted on 12/03/2015 5:45:37 PM PST by Jandy on Genesis
This remarkable seal or bulla of the Judean King Hezekiah was discovered by Efrat Greenwald at the Ophel, an ancient dump beside the wall that surrounds Jerusalem's Old City. This bulla was found with 33 additional bullae, many pottery sherds and figurines in Area A of the 2009 excavation season supervised by Hagai Cohen-Klonymus of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
This is the first seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king ever exposed in situ in a scientific archaeological excavation.
Initial inspection failed to recognize the seal's importance and it was put in storage. Recently the bulla was identified by the Paleo-Hebrew inscription that says: "Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah" who reigned from 727 to 698 BC. II Kings 18:5 says of Hezekiah that "after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him." He is also mentioned in the annals of King Sennacherib. To protect the city's only water source, Hezekiah had a tunnel built to bring water from the Siloam Spring into Jerusalem.
The seal is significant because it identifies King Hezekiah with the Messianic belief of his Horite Habiru (Hebrew) ancestors. The bulla is imprinted with a winged sun or dung beetle flanked on both sides by the Egyptian ankh, the symbol of life. Both the winged sun and the ankh are symbols attached to the religion of Horus, the "son" of the Creator and the only Nilotic deity to be shown as a man. His narrative sets forth the Messianic expectation of Abraham's Nilotic ancestors.
(Excerpt) Read more at jandyongenesis.blogspot.com ...
Pretty cool!
I went through Hezekiah’s tunnel about 25 years ago. They knew that their city was going to be under siege, and his workers literally hacked out a means of bringing water into the city through sheer rock, about 500 meters worth. You can literally see the ax marks in the walls and ceiling. it is truly amazing what people are capable of when they are desperate to survive.
What caused you to excerpt your own material?
Again?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.