A small amethyst stone that functioned as a seal during the time of the Second Temple has been identified through the Temple Mount Sifting Project at Emek Tzurim National Park at the base of the Western Wall.
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The seal, which was worn as a ring, features an image of a bird on a branch that appears to depict the aromatic balsamum plant that was used to make incense for the Temple.
The seal is made of an amethyst and is engraved with a groove through which a metal strip was threaded, allowing it to be worn as a ring. The oval stone itself measures 10 mm by 5 mm (0.4 inches by 0.2 inches).
In a research article due out soon, archaeologists Eli Shukron, Professor Shua Amorai-Stark, and Malka Hershkovitz, who studied the artifact, attempt to characterize the carving on the seal, which features a bird (most likely a dove) and a long, curved branch with five pieces of fruit on it. The team believes that the plant is the balsamum mentioned in the Bible, the Talmud, and various historical sources.
Balsamum, known in Hebrew as "afersemon," is not at all similar to the fruit we now know as a persimmon and is described as a precious plant that could be used for medicinal purposes, to make creams and perfumes, and was used as one of the ingredients in the Temple incense.
"This is an important discovery because this is the first time a stone seal has been found anywhere in the world with a depiction of the famous plant on it. Thus far, we could only read about it in historical sources," Shukron – who is directing the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority – explained.
Amorai-Stark added, "Near the end of the Second Temple Period, the use of stone seals was increasingly common, but most of the seals discovered thus far that include depictions of plants are of ones that were much more common in the Land of Israel at the time – grapes, dates, and olives, which are part of the seven species. When we started examining the seal, we realized immediately that the fruit on it was nothing like any of the [depictions of] fruit we had seen."
Amorai-Stark said that the dove was a positive theme in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Jewish worlds, symbolizing "wealth, happiness, goodness, and success."
Moreover, she said, the choice of the carving on the seal could be an indication of who the owner was.
"If indeed it's the precious and famous balsamum fruit, we can reasonably assume that the owner of the seal was a Jew of means, since the production and trade of balsamum was controlled in those days by Jews living in the Dead Sea basin, where the fruit was grown. It's possible the seal owner had an orchard."
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