Monday, January 01, 2018

"City Governor " bulla excavated in Jerusalem

ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY: Governor of Jerusalem's Seal Impression From First Temple Era Found Near Western Wall. The bible mentions the Governor of Jerusalem, a high appointment by the king, in the contexts of the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).
A fantastically preserved seal impression made by the biblical Governor of Jerusalem during the First Temple era has been found by archaeologists where it fell 2,700 years ago.  

Many dozens of seal impressions and seals themselves have been found in ancient Jerusalem, including in this area by the Temple Mount. Also, several seal impressions of the Jerusalem governor ("sar ha'ir"), who was the highest-ranking officer in  the city, have been making the rounds in the black market, Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah told Haaretz.

But this lump of baked clay, all of 1.3 by 1.5 centimeters in size and just over two millimeters thick, is unique in being of unquestionable provenance.

"Ours is special because this was the first time the seal of the Governor of the City of Jerusalem itself was found in the right place," Weksler-Bdolah says.

[...]
The decipherment looks right to me, although it is odd that "city" lacks the definite article.

For the Hezekiah bulla (seal impression) excavated in Jerusalem two years ago, see here and links.

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