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SEALS of the IRON AGE and PERSIAN PERIOD Ephraim Stern

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SEALS of the IRON AGE and PERSIAN PERIOD Ephraim Stern CHAPTER TEN SEALS OF THE IRON AGE AND PERSIAN PERIOD Ephraim Stern The anepigraphic seals of the Persian period discovered in resents the biblical cherub (Cassuto 1963), a very common Israel can be divided into four categories: 1) scaraboid seals motif on ivories, ornamented metal bowls, and seals, as well which continue the style of the Iron Age and are imitations as in Phoenician sculpture and reliefs both in the East and of Egyptian scarabs; 2) conical seals produced in various in the Punic colonies in the West as far as Spain (Harden types of stone, whose shape is typical of Babylonian-Persian 1971: Pis. 46-4 7, 68; Moscati 1973: 101, Fig. 20; I 06, Fig. seals; 3) oval stamp seals of Greek origin; and 4) scarab seals 29; Pis. 3, 11 ). which imitate Egyptian seals in shape. The motifs engraved In front of the sphinx are shown two sacred emblems. on these seals are generally rendered in a mixed style, e.g. Above, there is a clear representation of the crescent and with a combination of Phoenician and Greek, Phoenician sun, which are the standard emblems of Baal and Astarte and Persian, or Phoenician and Egyptian designs. The found on many Phoenician seals (Reisner et a/. 1924: Vol. entire repertoire of the above four types should thus be con­ II, Pl. 57:6), tombstones, column capitals, masks, and tem­ sidered local, probably Phoenician, copies of Babylonian, ple models (Moscati 1973: 107, Fig. 26; Pis. 2, 6-7, 23). Achaemenian, Egyptian, and Greek seals. Below is an unclear object or emblem which we have inter­ The first two seals found at Dor described in the following preted as a very schematic rendering of the Achaemenian apparently belong to groups 2 and 4: although some of their fire altar, a very widespread motif on seals of this type; for motifs are typical of the so-called Persian repertoire, others a general discussion of this subject, see Stern 1971. are clearly Phoenician. The seals probably belonged to offi­ cials employed in administrative positions in the province Seal No. 5174 (Fig. 10.1:2; Photo 10.2) of Dor, which was under the rule of the Sidonian kings in that period. This seal was discovered on the surface of the mound before the start of the excavations. It too is made of glass (bluish in this case), and is scaraboid in shape with a smooth back. Seal No. 11811 (Fig. 10.1:1; Photo 10.1) It was undoubtedly part of a signet ring of a type also known This seal was uncovered in a Persian period phase ( 6b) in in Israel from earlier periods* The seal depicts the well­ Area AI on the floor of Ll219. Conical in shape, it was known scene of the Persian king being driven in a horse­ made of translucent dark green glass. As was usual with seals drawn chariot by a charioteer. A spear is apparently shown of this type, it was worn around the neck on a ribbon that in front of the driver. was drawn through a hole pierced in its upper, pointed tip This scene is very familiar; it appears on many Sidonian (cf., for example, Avigad 1958, especially the photo in col. city coins of the Persian period (Harden 1971: PI. 109:b), 74; Stern 1982: 196-200). as well as on other seals; Gubel deals with stamps depicting The seal depicts a mythological figure that has its origin chariots and illustrates one from a tomb at Kamid el-Loz, in Assyrian and Babylonian seals, such as the Babylonian dated to 450/440-370/360 BCE, that closely resembles ours cylinder seal from Tell Jemmeh (Petrie 1928: Pl. 19:29); a (Gubel1988: 160-63, No.6, Pl. XXXI!: b). On the obverse number of Persian period examples of this type have been of the Sidonian coins, which are generally of quite large found in Israel, especially on seal impressions and coins of denominations, a warship is usually engraved in front of a the province of Samaria found in the Wadi ed-Daliyeh Cave fortress with towers that represents the city of Sidon. A simi­ (F.M. Cross in Lapp and Lapp 1974: 28, seal 25, PI. 62:1; lar warship riding over the waves appears on other coins. On Meshorer and Qedar 1991: 56, No. 63). This figure is known the reverse, the Persian king is frequently shown in his char­ as the 'scorpion man.' It is generally rendered as a sphinx iot drawn by four horses and driven by a charioteer. in the upper part of the body with a bird's lower body and Another man, usually wearing the tall Egyptian 'Osirian' legs and an Assyrian-bearded human face; the tail is a crown, often walks by his side. scorpion's, and it is raised in readiness for stinging. In our specimen, the tail and body have been transformed in typi­ cal Phoenician manner into a lion's tail and body, though *This seal was discovered by Kurt Ravch of Kibbutz Nahsholim and pre­ the Assyrian head is retained. We thus have before us the sented to the Antiquities Authority (Archives No. 562-79). I wish to thank standard sphinx of Canaanite-Phoenician glyptics, with the Mr. Shelley Wachsmann and t-drs. Yarda Sussman. who gave the seal to addition of several foreign elements. It apparently also rep- the Tel Dor Expedition for study. 475 3 2 4 5 6 0;;_~=~1,CM Fig. 10.1. No. Reg. No. Locus Area Phase I. I I 8 I I I2I 9 AI 6b 2. 5I74 Surface 3. 49674 Surface 4. I I 970 Balk G 40 5. 467I8 4675 C2 6b 6. I I972 Surface 476 Photo I 0.1. Seal No. 11811. Photo I 0.2. Seal No. 5174. Photo 10.3. Seal No. 49674. Photo I 0.4. Bulla No. 11970. Photo 10.5. Seal No. 11972. In the opinion of many scholars, this figure represents tury BCE assemblages in Wadi ed-Daliyeh and 'Atlit (Stern either the king of Persia or the king of Sidon dressed in 1982: 198, Fig. 325, first on right; 200, Fig. 326, right; F.M. Egyptian style (Gubel 1988: 167). However, according to Cross in Lapp and Lapp 1974: 28, seal 25, Pl. 62:1). Seyrig (Seyrig I 9 59), the figure in the chariot does not repre­ Whether the scene depicted on our seal portrays the king sent the Persian king but was the statue of the god Baal of Persia in his chariot or the Sidonian national deity Baal Eshmun, the chief deity of the city of Sidon in this period, Eshmun, there is no doubt that it is identical with that and the accompanying figure walking behind him is the king appearing on the city coins. of Sidon in the role of a priest officiating in a religious pro­ We have recently suggested elsewhere that the coins cession. issued in Israel in the Persian period were in fact the private Our seal, however, differs from the Sidonian coins in that seal impressions of the rulers ofthe provinces or of the vari­ the king of Persia (or Baal Eshmun) in the background of ous 'states' existing in Israel in that period, such as Samaria, the scene is depicted turning around and grasping the hind Judah, and Ashdod (Stern 1982: 221-24). If this theory is legs of an animal. This is part of another widespread motif correct, our seal should probably be interpreted as the prop­ in which a god or mythological hero is shown lifting two erty of a high-ranking official, perhaps even the Sidonian similar animals by their hind legs. This scene, which is also king's representative in the city of Dor, who used it to seal derived from early Mesopotamian art, is very common on documents with the emblem of Sidon, just as the king of Phoenician coins and is a very frequent motif on 'Persian­ Sidon did, as shown on its coins. In any case, we have here style' Phoenician seal impressions found in 5th and 4th cen- additional evidence that the city of Dor in this period was 477 under Sidonian rule (for a similar phenomenon ofSidonian these are widespread in the coastal settlements of Palestine domination of the city of Samaria in the Persian period, see These were probably used by the Phoenician population ao Stern 1983; Meshorer and Qedar !991 ). a whole and not reserved for officials. Indeed, another spec· imen (No. 55339) was discovered in L5620 in Area 01 in the southern part of the mound. At the end of the Persian period the hero in this seem Seal No. 49674 (Fig. 10.1:3; Photo 10.3) begins to lose his 'Oriental' appearance (Assyrian, Persian. This rectangular bronze stamp seal was also a surface find. or sometimes even Egyptian, in the form of Bes) and It was no doubt once enclosed in a signet ring. Though assumes a Greek guise - usually that of Herakles (J ohm bronze was seldom used for stamps, stamps made of metal, 1933: 99, Fig. 85; Pl. XIV:935). In this style he is depicted especially gold and silver, have been uncovered at other on the 'Palestinian' (also known as Philisto-Arabian) coins sites. (Hill 1914: 83-89; Kindler 1963; Meshorer and Qedar Depicted on the seal is a bearded and winged hero wear­ 1991) and on the coins of the major Phoenician harbor ing a metal helmet in Greek style, and perhaps dressed in towns, especially Tyre (Hill 1910: Pis. XVIII:5, 7; plate armor.
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