The seal impression of Hezekiah
A named king of Judah, sealing documents in Jerusalem — recovered from stratified excavation rather than bought on the market.
Named outside the BibleObjectc. 727–698 BC
A clay bulla — the lump of clay that sealed a rolled document — stamped with a royal seal reading "Belonging to Hezekiah, (son of) Ahaz, king of Judah". Unlike most inscribed bullae of biblical figures, this one came out of a controlled excavation rather than the antiquities market.
Belonging to Hezekiah, (son of) Ahaz, king of Judah.
- Found
- The Ophel, at the foot of the southern wall of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, 2009 — Eilat Mazar's excavation (identified 2015)
- Now held at
- Israel Antiquities Authority
- Language
- Hebrew
- How it reached us
- Dug up, or still standing where it was built.
What it shows
Provenanced and stratified, which is what distinguishes it from the many unprovenanced bullae attributed to biblical figures.
How historians use it
Accepted as a genuine royal Judahite bulla; discussed in secular epigraphy for its iconography, which shifts to a winged sun disc during his reign.
In Scripture
Connects to
Sources
- Mazar, "Is This the Prophet Isaiah's Signature?", BAR 44 (2018), on the Ophel bullae context
- Bulla of Hezekiah — overview
These summaries are written in English for now. Translations follow.