The Shema Seal is an ancient Jasper seal that dates back to the 8th century BCE and mentions the King of ancient Israel , Jeroboam .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
Archaeologist Gottlieb Schumacher and his team began excavating at Megiddo and found the seal during a three-year excavation program.[ 4] The seal was discovered in 1904, in an excavation dump. The layers in which it was found were dated to the eighth century BCE.[ 5] [ 6] Schumacher send the original seal to Istanbul but it never returned.[ 7] Its current location is unknown. A bronze cast made before it was sent away.[ 8] [ 9]
In the 1980s Yigal Ronen, a nuclear engineer and amateur antiquities collector from the Ben Gurion university , visited the Bedouin market in Be'er Sheva .[ 10] He was offered a tiny clay lump stamped with the image of a roaring lion and ancient Hebrew writing. Ronen bought it for 10 Shekels , even though suspecting it to be a forgery .[ 11] [ 12]
It turned out to be authentical.[ 13] It is not the original Meggido seal, but features the same images and dates from the same period as the original .[ 14] [ 15] [ 16]
“Belonging to Shema (שמע)[ 17] the servant of Jeroboam.”[ 18] [ 19]
Hebrew to English translation:
‘Ishm’ ‘bdyrbm’[ 1]
^ a b "Seal of Shema, Servant of Jeroboam - MC 0177 | Metzger Collection" . metzgercollection.pastperfectonline.com . Retrieved 2024-02-16 .
^ Merrill, A. L. "Shema' Seal" . dl.atla.com . Retrieved 2024-02-16 .
^ Ussishkin, David. "Gate 1567 at Megiddo and the Seal of Shema, Servant of Jeroboam" . In: M.D. Coogan et al. (Eds.), Scripture and Other Artifacts; Essays on the Bible and Archaeology in Honor of Philip J. King, Louisville, 1994, Pp. 410-428 .
^ May 24, Eleanor Clarke •. "Ancient Seal Proves Biblical King Jeroboam" . ArmstrongInstitute.org . Retrieved 2024-02-16 . ((cite web ))
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )
^ Lidzbarski, Mark. "Seal of Shema, Servant of Jereboam" . World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2024-02-16 .
^ King, Philip J. (1988-01-01). Amos, Hosea, Micah: An Archaeological Commentary . Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-24077-6 .
^ Fant, Clyde E.; Reddish, Mitchell G. (2008-10-15). Lost Treasures of the Bible: Understanding the Bible Through Archaeological Artifacts in World Museums . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8028-2881-1 .
^ Dating the Iron Age IIB Archaeological Horizon in Israel and Judah . Zaphon. 2020. ISBN 978-3-96327-086-4 .
^ "Israel Museum Photos" . www.julianspriggs.co.uk . Retrieved 2024-02-21 .
^ Aḥituv, Shmuel; Ayalon, Avner; Bar-Matthews, Mira; Goren, Yuval; Magen, Michael; Oren, Eliezer D.; Shamir, Orit (2023-07-03). "A Seal Impression of 'ShemaꜤ Servant of Jeroboam' " . Tel Aviv . 50 (2): 216–230. doi :10.1080/03344355.2023.2246817 . ISSN 0334-4355 .
^ בלומנטל, איתי (2020-12-09). "אחרי שנקנה בשוק ב-10 שקלים התברר: החותם בן כ-3,000 שנה" . Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-02-16 .
^ "Uncovering biblical king Jeroboam" .
^ " 'Fake' Seal Impression of Biblical King Jeroboam Is Authentic, New Study Says" . Haaretz . Retrieved 2024-02-16 .
^ "Jeroboam's Bulla" . Digital Manna Ministries, Inc . Retrieved 2024-02-16 .
^ "2,700 years ago, tiny clay piece sealed deal for Bible's King Jeroboam II" . The Times Of Israel .
^ "Archaeology news: 2.300-year -old seal of Biblical king Jeroboam II found in Israel | Science | News | Express.co.uk" . www.express.co.uk . Retrieved 2024-02-17 .
^ "Ancient Hebrew seals : Reifenberg, A. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive" . Internet Archive . 2023-03-25. Retrieved 2024-02-20 .
^ Avigad, N. (1964). "Seals and Sealings" . Israel Exploration Journal . 14 (3): 190–194. ISSN 0021-2059 . JSTOR 27924985 .
^ "Seal from reign of Jeroboam II. "Shema, servant of Jeroboam" " . Visual Arts Legacy Collection . JSTOR community.13589433 .