King Hezekiah Iconic Seal Impression

hezekiah

On the recent news about the discovery of an ancient seal naming King Hezekiah found near the south wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This king is mentioned by the Bible (II Chronicles 31) as one of the good guys, a reformer who centralized worship and reorganized (and funded) the Temple cult. In that context, one of the most outstanding things about the archaeological find is its iconography, namely the solar disk with two-wings turned downward and two ankh symbols symbolizing eternal life. With its distinctly Egyptian visage, the impression isn’t very “Jewish” or even “Israelite.” You can read about it here.

 

 

 

 

About zjb

Zachary Braiterman is Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His specialization is modern Jewish thought and philosophical aesthetics. http://religion.syr.edu
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2 Responses to King Hezekiah Iconic Seal Impression

  1. OMG. Even back then the Jews were guilty of cultural appropriation…More seriously: If you really want to complain, just think of all those pagan mythological beings which found their way into Dante’s Divine Comedy.

    • zjb says:

      Dude, I’m not complaining. I think the image is awesome, and it makes the point about larger cultural borrowings across the ancient near East, particularly in relation to iconography.

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