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Wednesday, September 28, 2005

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: A late First-Temple-era seal inscribed with Hebrew has been discovered in the rubble from the Temple Mount:
First Temple-era seal discovered
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS (Jerusalem Post

A First-Temple period seal has been discovered amidst piles of rubble from Jerusalem's Temple Mount, an Israeli archaeologist said Tuesday, in what could prove to be an historic find.

The small - less than 1 cm - seal impression, or bulla, discovered Tuesday by Bar-Ilan University archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay amidst piles of rubble from the Temple Mount would mark the first time that an written artifact was found from the Temple Mount dating back to the First Temple period.

[...]

The piece says the seal is 2600 years old, which would put it just before the exile. The article also reports:
Meanwhile, in a separate major archaeological development in Jerusalem, a Jewish ritual bath, or mikva, dating back to the Second Temple period, and a First Temple Wall have been found in an underground chamber adjacent to the Western Wall tunnels, the Antiquities Authority's Jerusalem regional archaeologist Jon Seligman said during a tour.

UPDATE: some of the less snarky comments on the Free Republic site raise good questions about this article. Is the seal impression 2600 years old or "from the time of David?" It can't be both. And how are three lines of Hebrew fitted onto a one-centimenter surface? Is the seal impression damaged and incomplete or are the letters minute (seems unlikely) or is the reported size incorrect?

UPDATE (30 September): More here.

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