AN EARLY JEWISH TERRACOTTA BULLA OF NATANMELEKH, SERVANT OF THE KING

CIRCA LATE 7TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN EARLY JEWISH TERRACOTTA BULLA OF NATANMELEKH, SERVANT OF THE KING
CIRCA LATE 7TH CENTURY B.C.
Stamped on one side by a convex seal creating an oval impression with two registers divided by a double line, all within a double line frame, with a two-line Hebrew inscription reading, L'Natanmelekh eved hamelekh, "Belonging to Natanmelekh, servant of the king"
13/16 in. (2.1 cm.) wide

Provenance

Chaya Collection, Geneva.

Lot Essay

There is a single Biblical reference to a Natanmelekh who is recorded as an official in the royal court of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:11). For another bulla for Natanmelekh see no. 9, pp. 73-74 in Deutsch, Messages from the Past, the Shlomo Moussaiff Collection.

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