Over a thousand ancient clay seal impressions were discovered during excavations at the ancient city of Maresha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in August. Maresha is situated in what is now the Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park in the Judean foothills.
Dating back to the second and third centuries BCE, the clay seal impressions are evidence of an archive of letters dating back to the Hellenistic period. In ancient times, the clay seals were used to sign letters and scrolls.
According to a press release, "While excavating in one of the subterranean complexes … archaeologists uncovered an opening in the side wall of one of the caves. … On the floor, among a group of large broken storage jars, lay more than 1,000 clay bullae or sealings. These unfired bullae sealed the knots of twine binding papyrus scrolls - hundreds of them - that did not survive their 2,000 years in the caves' moist atmosphere. The imprint of the string and the impression of the papyrus is still visible on many of the bullae. If a seal was broken the recipient of a document would have known that the contents had already been read. The unfired sealings are extremely fragile and each was carefully collected and brought to the labs of the Israel Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem."
The excavations were headed by Dr. Ian Stern, of the Archaeological Seminars Institute in Jerusalem and the Hebrew Union College in coordination with the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
After examining 300 of the 1,020 clay impressions, Dr. Donald Tzvi Ariel, a leading expert on these types of seals, concluded they bore the likeness of Greek gods like Athena, Apollo and Aphrodite, as well as scenes depicting animals, erotic images and cornucopia.
It is Ariel's assessment that the findings are part of a large, private and ancient archive of documents that may have belonged to a wealthy landowner. The hypothesis is an interesting one given the events of that period, in which John Hyrcanus, the Hasmonean leader and Jewish high priest, conquered the Edomites in the area and forced them to convert to Judaism.
Stern said the findings were the latest in a series of fascinating finds discovered in Maresha from a time when the city was a central crossroads for trade. He said the clay seals could provide important information on what the day-to-day lives and culture of people living in Israel at the time.
