First Temple seal found in Jerusalem dig
Linked to family mentioned in Nehemiah
A black stone seal dated 2,500-years-old was discovered in the City of David excavations outside the Dung Gate of Jerusalem's Old City, lead Israeli archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar said on Wednesday.
The seal was engraved with the family name Temech, who according to the book of Nehemiah were one of the families that served at the First Temple and were exiled to Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE and later returned to Jerusalem.
The seal shows a widely held and accepted cultic scene dating to 538-445 BCE, said Mazar. The seal depicts two priests with beards worshipping with raisied hands and an incense altar standing between them. There is also a crescent moon above the altar representing the primary Babylonian god "Sin.
The three Hebrew letters written below the picture spells Temech, a family mentioned in Nehemiah 7:6, according to Mazar: "These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city."
Dr. Mazar added, "The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible. One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find."
The Shalem Center, where Mazar is a senior fellow, and the City of David Foundation are supporting the dig and the discovery will be formally announced during the 8th annual Herzliya Conference by Mazar on Sunday.
Linked to family mentioned in Nehemiah
A black stone seal dated 2,500-years-old was discovered in the City of David excavations outside the Dung Gate of Jerusalem's Old City, lead Israeli archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar said on Wednesday.
The seal was engraved with the family name Temech, who according to the book of Nehemiah were one of the families that served at the First Temple and were exiled to Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE and later returned to Jerusalem.
The seal shows a widely held and accepted cultic scene dating to 538-445 BCE, said Mazar. The seal depicts two priests with beards worshipping with raisied hands and an incense altar standing between them. There is also a crescent moon above the altar representing the primary Babylonian god "Sin.
The three Hebrew letters written below the picture spells Temech, a family mentioned in Nehemiah 7:6, according to Mazar: "These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city."
Dr. Mazar added, "The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible. One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find."
The Shalem Center, where Mazar is a senior fellow, and the City of David Foundation are supporting the dig and the discovery will be formally announced during the 8th annual Herzliya Conference by Mazar on Sunday.
