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October 30, 2008
And Now This!
And now this from the Israel Antiquities Authority:
An image of a warrior shooting an arrow is depicted on the seal, which belonged to a Hebrew person by the name of Hagab. The owner of the seal probably held a military position, possibly that of army commander of the Kingdom of Judah.[snip]
According to the excavation director, archaeologist Shlomit Wexler-Bdolah of the IAA, “The seal, which apparently belonged to a private individual, is made of black stone, is elliptical in shape and measures 1.2 x 1.4 cm. It is adorned with an engraved decoration of an archer shooting a bow and arrow. The name of the archer is engraved in ancient Hebrew script next to him and reads LHGB (meaning: for Hagab). The name Hagab is mentioned in the Bible in Ezra 2:46, as well as in the Lachish Letters, which also date to the time of the First Temple”.
And the a official public presentation of the Proto-Canaanite Hebrew Ostracon from Khirbet Qeiyafah is looming. Previews, without picture or text, are already available.
Update:
Robert Deutsch worries that the seal may be a fake and planted. As usual, it may take some time to sort this out.
Posted by Duane Smith at October 30, 2008 8:00 AM | Read more on Archaeology |
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Comments
How high is the probability that it's the same Hagab?
Posted by: Aydin at October 30, 2008 8:19 AM
I haven't studied this name or this part of Ezra to any extent but I'm fairly sure that Hagab in Ezra 2:46 and the Hagab in the Lachish Letters are not the same person. I don't see how they can be given the time span. But then Ezra is not clear whether he is referring to a contemporary person or a decedent of a Hagab. Both the Lachish letter and this section of Ezra are no more than lists of names and, excepting Hagab not the same names. One would think from the overall context of all the Lachish letters taken as a group that the people listed in this Lachish letter were in the military. There are other known seals with the same names on them as a couple of the other individuals named in the letter. But who knows? I don't think the name is very common but with so little data it hard to see a high probability that the Hagab of the seal is the Hagab of the Lachish letter. If required to guess, I'd say there is, based on the military context of both, that the probability that they are the same is greater than 20% but not greater than 60%. Again, who knows? My default position is that many people have the same name. With more study, I may change my mind or narrow the range of probability.
Posted by: Duane at October 30, 2008 9:31 AM
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