Saturday, June 04, 2016

A Cross Between a Bird & a Beetle

David Wilder posted a blog this week that got republished by The Jerusalem Post & Israel National News. Here's a snippet along with 2 photos from the June 3rd E-mail notification sent by Eretz.org, which are currently not being displayed on the aforementioned websites:

Just to the east of them is a 'four-room' house, 2,700 years old, that being the First-Temple era, built during the days of King Hezekiah. During this age, the kingdom utilized Hebron as a place to store food for the army, then fighting a war with Assyrian King Sinharib. The grains were kept in clay jars. Near the bottom of the jar's handle was a small seal, identifying the jar and its contents as property of the Kingdom.

The seal itself looked something like a cross between a bird and a beetle, some with two wings, and others with four. Above the seal was inscribed the word, L'Melech, 'belonging to the King.' Beneath the seal was another word, identifying the area where the food jar was being stored.

During these excavations, Eisenberg and his team discovered five of these such seals, all marked with the words 'L'Melech, and underneath, in ancient Hebrew, the word 'Hebron.' Eisenberg, speaking to then defense minister Moshe Arens, at the site, exclaimed, "if anyone had any doubts as to whether this is the original, Biblical Hebron, those doubts have all been erased. We have proof that Jews have lived here since the days of Abraham."





These seals were never placed "near the bottom" of the handle.  They probably didn't contain "food for the army" since they've been found at many places where there were other classes of people such as farmers & priests.  A different Hebrew word would've been used to identify the contents being "for the kingdom" as opposed to a/the king.  The word "beneath the seal" didn't necessarily identify the place where the "jar was being stored" since there were only 4 such words inscribed, but many dozens of sites where they've been found.  With all due respect to Eisenberg, I not only doubt, but completely disbelieve the word on this seal has anything to do with "the original, Biblical Hebron".

No matter how many webpages, books, videos, & blogposts I publish, some people will probably never see The Light.
G.M. Grena

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