Dozens of ancient seals dating to the First Temple period will be on display to the public for the first time this week at the annual archaeological conference at the City of David National Park in Jerusalem.The well-preserved clay seals, used by the sender to officially close up letters, survived the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple in 586 BC.The seals, known in Hebrew as bullae, from which the word
“bul” (stamp) comes, showed the recipient if the letter had been opened. A broken seal indicated it had been opened before arriving at its destination.Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists Ortal Chalaf and Dr. Joe Uziel, who co-directed the excavation, said the images on the seals sometimes indicated the sender and other times what he or she was sending. Â READ MORE
