Hezekiah and Isaiah
'Just Stories?' #11
What's in the series? Previous: King Sargon of Assyria Next: Shebna's Tomb
A seal was the ancient equivalent of a signature. It was a small carving that carried the owner’s name, and could be stamped into clay as a mark of ownership. The clay impression of a seal is called a bulla (plural bullae).
King Hezekiah in the Bible (700 BC) was a real historical person, who we also know about from the archaeological record. Among other evidence, a bulla carrying his name has been discovered near Jerusalem.
This bulla was found in a collection of several hundred others from the same time. Very close to the bulla of Hezekiah there was another that carries the name Isaiah. This bulla is broken, so we can not be sure, but there are some Hebrew letters that come from the word ‘prophet.’ In 2018 the Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar announced that we now have a direct reference to the Biblical prophet Isaiah from the time of king Hezekiah.
With Dr. Chris Sinkinson, lecturer in Old Testament and Apologetics at Moorlands college.
