Yearly Archives: 2005

Yehukal Seal Picture and Discussion (Updated)

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Here is a pretty clear picture of the Yehukal bulla that was discovered by Eilat Mazar in her Jerusalem dig:

(Thanks to Joseph I. Lauer for the link; the picture was published in the Taipei Times)

Here is a tracing of the bulla I made to show the letters in greater relief; note that the first nun begins on the second line and is incomplete and the heh-vav at the end of the second line were difficult to make out in their entirety (Thanks to Ed Cook for the identification of the partial nun).

While it is not the easiest to decipher, it appears to read: ליהוכל בנ שלמיהו בנ שבי, which could be translated variously as “Belonging to Yehukal son of Shelemyahu son of Shobi” or “Yehukal son of Shelemyahu son of Shobai.” I translated the name שלמיהו with a shin primarily because that is a known name (Jer 36:14, 26; 38:1; Ezra 10:41; 1Chron 26:14), while Selemyahu is not. The same argument can be made for Shobi (2Sam 17:27) and Shobai (Ezra 2:42; Neh 7:45). Moreover, since most (if not all) Hebrew names are related to verbal roots with specific meanings and include theophoric elements which interplay with the meaning of the root, both Shelemyahu and Shobi make sense, while the alternatives readings with the letter sin do not.

This may very well be the same person mentioned in Jeremiah 37:3 יהוכל בן שלמיה “Jehucal son of Shelemiah” (NRSV) and 38:1 יוכל בן שלמיהו “Jucal son of Shelemiah” (NRSV). Robert Deutsch, however, dates the bulla on paleographical grounds to the late 8th, or the first half of the 7th century BC, precluding the identification with the Yehukal mentioned by Jeremiah. In respone to this dating, Peter van der Veen has defended Mazar’s date well within the range of Jeremiah’s career. He notes: “the unequal stance of the horizontal lines as well as the long top horizontal bisecting the vertical shaft are strong indications of a late 7th-6th cent. BC date (as we know from all the provenanced material!!). The lack of field dividers (though more common around 700 BC) is not an argument against a late Iron Age IIC date. Similar bullae were found at Lachish Str. II and hence are well attested ca. 600 BC” (From Jim West on Biblical Theology).

For those who may know Hebrew, but are unfamiliar with the archaic Hebrew alphabet, here is part of a handout I give to intermediate Hebrew students:

There are a number of good discussions of the seal on the web: Ed Cook perhaps has the best at Ralph the Sacred River. Jim West also has a number of posts on the subject at Biblical Theology blog: here and here. Duane Smith at Abnormal Interests has also posted a good discussion of the seal.

Prosperity Just a Cheque Away!

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Every once and a while everything just goes your way! Jim Davila at PaeloJudaica is going to find his fortune from the Massekhet Kelim, while I will receive mine through the assistance of Profit Prophet Peter Popoff. Peter is such a good friend. I just got a letter from him. At first I thought it was a form letter, but then I noticed it had personalized notes in green handwriting on the letter. What a sweet guy… taking the time to write me (wow, he sure has uniform penmanship!).

It seems that Peter hasn’t been able to sleep very well lately. In his letter he notes how he was awakened and prompted to write me — what a nice guy! Well, it gets even better! All I have to do is send him some “seed” money and then God will bless me! Yippee! Where’s my chequebook… Actually it’s not quite that simple. Wow, there are a lot of instructions…

Here’s what I have to do:

  • Take “Green Oil of Prosperity” (pictured above) and put a drop on three pieces of paper.
  • Place the papers as follows: (1) put one under chair where you eat… gross… I can’t believe how much my four-year-old son drops on the floor when eating… anyone want some day-old cheerios?; (2) put second in front of your front door; and (3) place last at the foot of bed.
  • Write my name on the special cloth (it actually is a piece of paper; see below) and write on it how much money I need right away.
  • Send the three oily pieces of paper and the special cloth back to my good buddy Peter. Oh yeah… with an enclosed cheque. I guess this “seed faith gift” is necessary for God to do anything.

Now all I have to do is wait in anticipation! Now, where should I put that big-screen TV? Hmmm…

Whoops… I think I may be in trouble. I just re-read the letter; it says: “For reasons of safety, I must ask you to keep secret what I am going to share with you now.”

I better write a bigger cheque…

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King David’s Palace Update

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The news of the discovery of a large public building in Jerusalem has hit the biblio-bloggers and email discussion lists: Jim Davila at PaleoJudaica leads the pack with a great discussion of the news article here. Ken Ristau at Anduril.ca has a brief, but insightful note here, as does Chris Heard at Higgaion. And Jim West at Biblical Theology has an updated post here.

Temple Scroll Exhibited in Berlin

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The Canadian Jewish News posted a story about the “The New Hebrews: A Century of Art in Israel” exhibition running until 5 September 2005 at the Martin-Gropius Bau museum in Berlin. One of the main features of the exhibition is the Temple Scroll (11QT). This is the first time it has been displayed publically since its discovery in 1956.

For more information on this scroll, see my Temple Scroll Introduction.

King David’s Palace Discovered – Minimalists Convert!

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The International Herald Tribune has posted a story on the recent excavations and discoveries in Jerusalem: “King David’s fabled palace: Is this it?” (Also available at the New York Times). The find purportedly includes “the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th to 9th centuries B.C., the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon.” (Picture of Mazur by Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times). Here is an excerpt:

Even Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that MS. Mazar has found the palace – the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel 2:5 describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent.

Either way, they are impressed by its likely importance. “This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown,” said Gabriel Barkay, an archaeologist from Bar-Ilan University. “This is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century.”

Based on the Bible and a century of archaeology in this spot, MS. Mazar, 48, speculated that a famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount.

“When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress,” she said, her eyes bright. “I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace.”

“So I said, maybe there’s something here,” she added, referring to East Jerusalem.

While it is obviously too soon to know the significance of the find, it will be fun to see the “minimalists” do everything they can to deny a connection with David and the “maximalists” muster the evidence to “prove” that David existed just as the Bible says! (Gee, do I seem a bit skeptical of the nature and tone of the minimalist/maximalist debate?)

UPDATE: Jim West over at Biblical Theology blog has posted on this story as well. The battle for Middle Earth Jerusalem is about to begin…