JEREMIAH PROVED TRUE
by Hana Levi Julian
Archaeologists have unearthed proof of another
Biblical story at Jerusalem 's ancient City of David , this time corroborating
the Book of Jeremiah.
A completely intact seal impression, or "bula", bearing the name Gedaliahu ben
Pashur was uncovered. The bula is actually a stamped engraving made of mortar.
Gedaliahu ben Pashur's bula was found a bare few meters away
from the site where a second such seal, this one belonging to Yuchal ben
Shlemiyahu was found three years ago, at the entrance to the City of David .
In the Book of Jeremiah (38:1-4), both men are mentioned as ministers to King
Tzidkiyahu, who reigned from 597-586 BCE. The two, along with another pair,
demanded the death penalty for the prophet Jeremiah in response to his plea for
the king to surrender the city to the oncoming hordes of the Babylonian
conqueror Nebuchadnezzer.
According to Professor Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem 's Hebrew University , who led
the dig, the ancient Hebrew letters "are very clearly preserved." The seal
impression was found in clay, she said.
The verses read as follows:
Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashur, Yuchal son of Shelemiah and
Pashur son of Malchiah heard the things that Jeremiah was speaking to the people
saying:
"Thus said Hashem (God): Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, by
the famine or by the pestilence, whereas whoever goes out [in surrender] to the
Chaldeans will live; he will have his life as a booty, and he will live.
"Thus said Hashem: This city will surely be delivered into the hand of the army
of the king of Babylonia , and he will capture it."
And the[se] officers said to the king, "Let this man be put to death now,
because he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who remain in this city, and
the hands of all the people, by speaking to them such things. For this man does
not seek the welfare of this people, but rather [their] detriment."
“How absolutely fantastic and special
this find is, can only be realized when you hold in your hand this magnificent
one-centimeter piece of clay and know that it survived 2,600 years in the debris
of the destruction, and came to us complete and in perfect condition,” said
Mazar.
Mazar's team of archaeologists focused its efforts on the
layer of artifacts from the First Temple period located just outside the walls
of the Old City , near Dung Gate.
The seal impression that was found three years ago was uncovered inside a stone
structure that Mazar said she believed was the Palace of David . Gedaliahu's
seal impression was unearthed at the foot of the external wall of the same
structure, under a tower that appeared to have been built in the days of
Nechemia in the fifth century BCE.
Mazar has been excavating the site since 2005. She is a senior fellow at the
Shalem Center , a Jerusalem-based research and educational institute, and heads
its Institute of Archaeology . The Ir David (City of David ) Foundation was the
principal sponsor of the excavation, together with the Israel Antiquities
Authority, the Hebrew University , and the Shalem Center.
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