I don't usually note stories about Iron Age finds unless there are inscriptions involved, but this one merits some comment. The title is a bit exuberant, raising hopes that these clay seals mention something that we can connect to a Davidic or Solomonic royal government. Alas, no. Some have seal markings impressed, but none bear any writing. Nevertheless, they are of considerable interest. The second paragraph of the article sums up their importance:
The official clay seals, or bullae, unearthed by Dr Blakely’s team at Khirbet Summeily – a small Biblical period village (10th-8th century BC) located in the northern part of Israel’s picturesque Negev desert – provide evidence that some type of government activity was conducted there in that period.The business about David and Solomon comes from the inference that evidence for this level of literacy and social organization in this comparatively remote location implies a stronger central government than archaeologists often allow for in this period. And if a stronger central government, why not one headed by David or Solomon, just as the Bible says? Maybe so, but I'm not getting too excited until someone finds a tenth-century inscription that mentions one of them.
All that said, these are the first bullae from as early as the tenth century BCE and we are very lucky to have them. Let's hope the archaeological luck holds and they find some more, this time with some writing on them. And I wouldn't say no to one that refers to David or Solomon. That would be especially lucky, but it's hardly unthinkable. As I noted just a couple of days ago, there is a ninth-century inscription that mentions "the House of David."
