Archaeologists have discovered an ancient clay seal which once belonged to a biblical governor of Jerusalem.
The Israel Antiquities Authority found the 2,700-year-old relic close to the Western Wall of Jerusalem.
The seal bears an inscription which in ancient Hebrew means “belonging to the governor of the city”.
Governors
Governors of Jerusalem are mentioned twice in the Bible. In its record of the reign of Josiah, 2 Kings 23:8 refers to the “Gate of Joshua, the city governor”.
In 2 Chronicles 34:8, Maaseiah is also identified as governor or ruler of Jerusalem during Josiah’s reign.
Archaeologist Dr Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah said: “This is the first time that such a sealing is found in an authorised excavation.”
Tel Lachish and Hezekiah
Several recent archaeological finds have been shown to support biblical historical accounts.
In 2016, an excavation’s discoveries at Tel Lachish were found to support the biblical account of King Jehu’s destruction of Baal worship in Israel.
And two years ago a seal was found bearing an inscription which said “Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah”.
Evidence
In a recent visit to The Christian Institute, Brian Edwards, author of ‘Evidence for the Bible’, gave numerous examples of the way archaeology evidences Scripture.
Read more: ‘Brian Edwards: Evidence for the Bible’.