Archaeologists unearth ancient seal with 2,600-year-old fingerprint tied to biblical official in King Josiah's royal court

An extremely rare and exceptionally well-preserved clay seal that's 2,600 years old has been unearthed by archaeologists in Israel. Experts believe the clay seal is of a figure named in the Hebrew Bible.

Last month, archaeologist Mordechai Ehrlich discovered a clay sealing at ongoing excavations in Jerusalem.

'Now, there are maybe 10 or 20 times more known [seals] found during controlled archaeological work than in the past.'

The Temple Mount Sifting Project stated:

Marks on the back of the artifact indicate it was used as a sealing on a bag or storage container. Remarkably, the sealing still retains a clear fingerprint, presumably left by the ancient official who once owned it. According to the style of writing, the sealing dates to the late First Temple period (approximately the late-7th century BCE to the early-6th century BCE).

Researchers on the study — Anat Mendel-Geberovich and Zachi Dvira — have fully deciphered the Hebrew inscription on the artifact; it reads: "Belonging to Yed[a‛]yah (son of) Asayahu."

The researchers say the clay seal impression, known as a bulla, bears the name of an important official who is in the story of King Josiah of Judah in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh.

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According to 2 Kings 22:3-7:

In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the LORD. He said: “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the LORD — the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”

While the workers were repairing the temple, they discovered "an ancient scroll that warned of punishment from God," Popular Mechanics reported.

King Josiah was concerned about the prophecy, so he dispatched his court officials to consult a prophetess named Huldah.

Among these trusted advisers was Asayahu, a high-ranking official often described as "the king's servant." Scholars suspect that Asayahu's son, Yeda‛yah, likely held a prominent post of his own during the same time period.

Researchers with the Temple Mount Sifting Project consider it "highly plausible" that the seal is of the distinguished official named in the Hebrew Bible.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project noted, "Historically, seals like these were reserved for officials of high rank, and many individuals named in similar discoveries from Jerusalem have been directly identified with biblical-era officials."

"The artifact's discovery on the Temple Mount further supports the likelihood of this connection," the Temple Mount Sifting Project site stated. "Thus, the clay sealing's owner was probably involved in Temple administration or in the royal household, much like his father."

Dvira told the Times of Israel, "Obviously, we are not sure that the Asayahu mentioned on the sealing is the same that appears in the Bible. However, several such artifacts found in the area of the Temple Mount carry biblical names, and it does make sense, because these were not objects used by common people."

"Because of their small size, clay sealings are difficult to identify,” Dvira explained. "In the past, most of the [seals] came from the antiquity market, but as we developed new techniques to sift through massive amounts of dirt, more excavations have started to either employ our sifting services or carry out their own sifting. Now, there are maybe 10 or 20 times more known [seals] found during controlled archaeological work than in the past."

Temple Mount Sifting Project said archaeologists had previously discovered another bulla with the same name of an official who served in the temple treasury administration.

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