Bulla of Servant of Jeroboam Redeemed?

Scholars say artifact is real after all

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Nathan Steinmeyer

December 25,

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Editor&#;s Note: This Bible History Daily article discusses an unprovenanced object. Learn more about the problems associated with objects that lack a secure archaeological context.

A group of scholars has proposed that an intriguing seal impression (bulla), bought on the Israeli antiquities market more than 40 years ago, may be the real deal. Referencing Jeroboam II (r. 784&#;748 BCE), the bulla would be one of the earliest known impressions of a Hebrew royal seal. If it is real, that is. Publishing in the journal Aviv, the scholars present a fleet of tests performed on the bulla, which they believe provide firm evidence for its authenticity. Some scholars warn, however, that it remains nearly impossible to prove such an object is authentic.

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A Seal, Its Impression, and Its Authenticity

Originally purchased in a Be&#;er Sheva marketplace in the early s, the small seal impression bears the image of a lion, a common royal motif in the ancient Near East. Around the lion are the faint words, &#;to Shema servant of Jeroboam.&#; Purchased for the equivalent of just a few U.S. dollars, Yigal Ronen, a collector and antiquities enthusiast, originally thought the object was a fake. However, with the evolution of high-tech lab tests, a group of scholars decided to get to the bottom of the matter and test the bulla for themselves.

Importantly, this bulla is not a unique artifact but is rather an impression of a smaller copy of a seal discovered in , during excavations at Megiddo. Crafted out of jasper, the seal was uncovered near the southern gatehouse of Strata VA-IVB. Found in the mudbrick debris of the destroyed gate, it was probably used for administrative business in the fortified compound that was likely destroyed during Tiglath-pileser III&#;s conquest of the city in 732 BCE. The seal, which similarly reads &#;to Shema servant of Jeroboam,&#; likely belonged to a high-ranking official in the court of Jeroboam II.

After its excavation, the seal was sent as a gift to the Ottoman sultan (who ruled the region at the time) but was then subsequently lost. The only evidence of the seal that remains are several photographs and a bronze replica made before the seal was sent to Istanbul. Although not the earliest reference to an Israelite or Judahite king, the Shema seal is the oldest known Hebrew royal seal, with several bulla bearing the name of Hezekiah, king of Judah, dating to several decades later. Although clearly based on the larger seal (or a similar one), the bulla is nearly half the size, measuring roughly 0.9 by 0.7 inches. The bulla&#;s small size appears to have required a less artistic depiction of the lion, which is more schematic than on the larger seal.

To determine the bulla&#;s authenticity, the team carried out a range of tests, including petrographic analysis, examination under electron microscope, Raman spectroscopy, and isotopic patina testing. They even examined the back of the bulla where it would have originally been attached to a piece of fabric. Through these tests, the team failed to identify any signs that the object was a modern forgery. The bulla, for instance, appeared to be crafted out of ancient clays typical of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, with no traces of modern components. The fabric imprint on the back similarly appeared to have been created by a linen textile that would have been locally available at the time. Unfortunately, the uneven pressing of the seal into the clay left behind a poor imprint of the inscription, making paleographic analysis difficult.

If genuine, the bulla was likely produced in the area around Megiddo, where the seal was found. As the bulla came from the antiquities market, however, it is impossible to know how it made its way to the Negev, where it was purchased in the s.

Although laboratory tests could not identify any evidence that the bulla is a modern forgery, some scholars caution against assuming it is authentic. According to Christopher Rollston, Professor of Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures at George Washington University, who was not part of the study, &#;These sorts of tests are very important, but such tests cannot demonstrate authenticity. After all, if a modern forger produced a fairly perfect forgery, it would be almost impossible to determine this, even using certain laboratory tests.&#;

As Rollston told Bible History Daily, already by the s, a decade before the Shema bulla was discovered, forgers could produce incredibly high-quality forgeries. Thus, said Rollston, it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that the bulla could still be a forgery, and it may be nearly impossible to prove that it is not. It certainly would not be the first forgery to pass laboratory tests. Indeed, the only way to prove its authenticity would be to find an identical bulla within the context of an archaeological excavation.

&#;Very consequential is the fact that this article does not focus at all on the script,&#; continued Rollston, &#;and it is the script where modern forgers have normally made most of their mistakes. In the absence of the ability to see the letters well enough to attempt an actual, independent epigraphic drawing of them, I would be very disinclined to assume that this bulla is ancient. We just don&#;t have enough epigraphic evidence to know. Perhaps it is ancient.  Perhaps it&#;s not.&#;

Ed. Note: Christopher Rollston is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Read more in Bible History Daily:

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Deconstructing Forgery

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Further reading:
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Clumsy Forger Fools the Scholars&#;But Only for a Time

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Jeroboam in Biblical Archaeology

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In , in the ruins of the Biblical city of Meggido, an archaeologist found a seal made of jasper, engraved with the following inscription: "SHEMA SERVANT OF JEROBOAM."

The seal belonged to a servant of one of the early kings of Israel, either Jeroboam I, who ruled shortly after the reign of King Solomon, or Jeroboam II, who ruled at the time of Jonah the prophet.

JEROBOAM I: According to the Bible, because king Solomon began worshiping the foreign gods of his many wives, the Lord took away ten tribes of Israel from his son's rule and placed Jeroboam as king over them. This is recorded in 1Kings 11:29-40:

"Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field. Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you '(but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 'because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.

'However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. 'But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and give it to you; ten tribes. 'And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there. 'So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 'Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. 'And I will afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.'

Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt.&#;

The name of this Egyptian king to whom Jeroboam fled, Pharaoh Shishak, has also been found on an inscription that lists the cities he conquered during his invasion of Israel.

Inscription mentioning Rehoboam's 'Kingdom of Judah" as subject to Pharaoh Shishak

This confirms the Bible in 1Kings 14:25-26: "It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam (Solomon's son) that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD"

THE LORD REBUKES JEROBOAM FOR HIS WICKEDNESS

"Go, tell Jeroboam, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, "and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; "but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back; "therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. "The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the LORD has spoken!" 1Kings 14:7-11

The reason for God&#;s great anger against Jeroboam is found in 2Kings 10:29 which states that he built golden calves in the cities of Bethel and Dan and caused the children of Israel to worship idols instead of the one true God.

JEROBOAM II ANOTHER IDOL WORSHIPER

In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria, and reigned fortyone years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat (Jeroboam I), who had made Israel sin. 2Kings 14:23-24

THE GREATEST WORDS SPOKEN BY THE LORD GOD TO JEROBOAM

'Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house' 1Kings 11:38

This article on Jeroboam is taken from our 4 volume book series "Bible Believer's Archaeology" which can be downloaded for your ebook reader by visiting our resource download page by Clicking Here.

Next Chapter - King Ahab & Jezebel

Sources used in compiling data and illustrations for this article:

Shishak - "Kingdom of Judah"Photo Link

Shema Servant of Jeroboam Seal Photo Link

The Holy Bible, Author: The Lord God. Scripture is taken from the New King James Version unless noted.

Artwork: "Jeroboam Seal" Illustration Copyright © John Argubright.

Artwork: Illustration of Rehoboam on hieroglyphics from sculpture at Karnak which is inscribed with the words &#;Kingdom of Judah&#; Illustrated in &#;International Cyclopaedia, Volume XV (), Author: H.T. Peck, Publisher: Dodd, Mead and Co.

The Revell Bible Dictionary, Author: Fleming H Revell, ISBN 0---2. Pg.550 "Jeroboam seal", Pg.853 (Shishak Inscriptions)

Biblical Archaeology Review, Nov/Dec , Jan/Feb Pg.29 (Jeroboam seal)

Biblical Archaeology Review, Jan/Feb PG.41-43 Pharaoh Shishak,(925 B.C.)

Copyright © BibleHistory.net All Rights Reserved. No permission is granted to download these images.

 

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