LATE JUDAEAN MONARCHY, CIRCA LATE 7TH-EARLY 6TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN EARLY JEWISH TERRACOTTA BULLA OF ISHMAEL, THE KING'S SON
Late Judaean Monarchy,
Circa Late 7th-Early 6th Century B.C.
Stamped on one side by a convex seal creating an oval impression with two registers within a double-lined frame, the registers divided by a biconcave double-line with pomegranates at their tips, with a two line inscription in semi-cursive Hebrew script reading, L'Ishmael ben hamelech, "Belonging to Ishmael, the king's son," the reverse of the bulla with an imprint of the twisted string and part of the object to which it was tied, remains of a fingerprint also preserved
.25/32 in. (1.7 cm.) wide

Provenance

with Yoav Sasson, Jerusalem, early 1980s.

Literature

G. Barkay, "A Bulla of Ishmael, the King's Son," BASOR, 290-291, 1993, pp. 109-114.

Lot Essay

There is only one accounted royal family member of this period named Ishmael. It is, therefore, likely that this seal belonged to Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, an officer of the royal family who remained in the kingdom of Judah after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Ishmael is best known for his leadership role in the unsuccessful anti-Babylonian revolt against Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed governor of Judah (II Kings, 25:18-26; Jeremiah, 40:1-16; Jeremiah, 41:1-18). See Barkay, op. cit.

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