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Clay seals from dig near Gaza date to 10th Cent. BCE
These are little balls or ovals that were used to seal documents, each with the sender's identifying stamp pressed into the wet clay.
While they aren't specifically identified with either David or Solomon, they are evidence that state formation was occurring in southern Israel earlier than anticipated, specifically in the area that was to become the kingdom of Judah. If they turn out to be associated with David, it will mean he was rather more than the hill-country chieftain postulated by the archaeological minimalists.
[link]www.haaretz.com/archaeology/1.632873[/link]
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Abstract:
Bullae are unexpected finds in an archaeological excavation project, especially when the project is centered on a small site seemingly located in the hinterlands and when they are of a tenth century b.c.e. date. Here we present an initial description of six bullae found at Khirbet Summeily in 2012 and 2014 and provide an overview of how bullae were used. The very existence of our bullae suggest a greater political complexity and integration across the transitional Iron I/IIA landscape than has been acknowledged by many recent scholars who tend to dismiss trends toward political complexity occurring prior to the arrival of the Assyrians in the region in the later eighth century b.c.e.
Bullae are unexpected finds in an archaeological excavation project, especially when the project is centered on a small site seemingly located in the hinterlands and when they are of a tenth century b.c.e. date. Here we present an initial description of six bullae found at Khirbet Summeily in 2012 and 2014 and provide an overview of how bullae were used. The very existence of our bullae suggest a greater political complexity and integration across the transitional Iron I/IIA landscape than has been acknowledged by many recent scholars who tend to dismiss trends toward political complexity occurring prior to the arrival of the Assyrians in the region in the later eighth century b.c.e.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.5615/neareastarch.77.4.0299?uid=3739864&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21105500415473
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