An archaeological discovery near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount may be proof of the life of the biblical prophet Isaiah, according to the Biblical Archaeology Review. A broken 8th-century BCE clay seal impression – known as a “bulla”– seems to contain an inscription that reads “Belonging to Isaiah,” and a partial spelling of the word “prophet” next to it.
As read in the article published by The Algemeiner, Dr. Eilat Mazar, a Hebrew University archeologist whose team discovered the seal in an excavation around the southern wall, said “we appear to have discovered a seal impression, which may have belonged to the prophet Isaiah, in a scientific, archaeological excavation.”
A grazing doe is also impressed on the seal, next to the prophet’s name. According to the Biblical Archaeology Review, it is “a motif of blessing and protection found in Judah, particularly in Jerusalem.”
The “Isaiah bulla” – as the seal is now referred to – was found ten feet from where the same archaeological team had already found an intact bulla with the inscription “of King Hezekiah of Judah” three years ago. Hezekiah, the 12th king of the Kingdom of Judah, ruled between 727 BCE to 698 BCE, precisely during Isaiah’s ministry.
“The names of King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah are mentioned in one breath 14 of the 29 times the name of Isaiah is recalled in the Bible (2 Kings 19–20; Isaiah 37–39),” said Mazar. “No other figure was closer to King Hezekiah than the prophet Isaiah.”
To read the article published by the Biblical Archaeology Review, click here.
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