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| The Story Behind a 2,600-Year-Old Seal | The Story Behind a 2,600-Year-Old Seal |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| JERUSALEM — The Israeli archaeologist Yuval Gadot is not a mushy guy. But in October, when he pulled a 2,600-year-old seal impression out of the ground in the Givati Parking Lot excavation in the City of David, he was “very emotional.” | JERUSALEM — The Israeli archaeologist Yuval Gadot is not a mushy guy. But in October, when he pulled a 2,600-year-old seal impression out of the ground in the Givati Parking Lot excavation in the City of David, he was “very emotional.” |
| Dr. Gadot says it took him and his fellow archaeologist, Dr. Yiftach Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority, only a few minutes to read the ancient Hebrew on the clay bulla, which dates to the middle of the seventh or beginning of the sixth century B.C., judging by the style of writing on it and the pottery found next to it. It reads: “l’Natan-Melech Eved haMelech,” or “to Natan-Melech, the king’s servant.” Natan-Melech is a name that appears only once in the Bible, in the Second Book of Kings. | |
| “When you find something like this it’s very exciting,” he told me. “It gives flesh and bones to things that are very distant stories.” | “When you find something like this it’s very exciting,” he told me. “It gives flesh and bones to things that are very distant stories.” |
| Of course, it is impossible to say with certainty that the Natan-Melech of the Bible is the Natan-Melech of the clay. But “it is impossible to ignore some of the details that link them together,” including the style of writing and the dating of the pottery found next to it, which date to the First Temple period, when the biblical character would have lived, said Anat Mendel Geberovich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem. | Of course, it is impossible to say with certainty that the Natan-Melech of the Bible is the Natan-Melech of the clay. But “it is impossible to ignore some of the details that link them together,” including the style of writing and the dating of the pottery found next to it, which date to the First Temple period, when the biblical character would have lived, said Anat Mendel Geberovich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem. |
| So who was Natan-Melech? And why does he matter? The reason he is important is because of the man he served: King Josiah. | So who was Natan-Melech? And why does he matter? The reason he is important is because of the man he served: King Josiah. |
| Mention King David today and most everyone will know who you are talking about. He is the precursor to the messiah, the founder of Jerusalem, the subject (along with Batsheva) of Leonard Cohen’s most famous song. | Mention King David today and most everyone will know who you are talking about. He is the precursor to the messiah, the founder of Jerusalem, the subject (along with Batsheva) of Leonard Cohen’s most famous song. |
| But Josiah? My first association is the character played by Martin Sheen in “The West Wing.” | But Josiah? My first association is the character played by Martin Sheen in “The West Wing.” |
| King David is thought to have been born around 1000 B.C. Josiah entered the scene some 350 years later and, according to the Bible, became king at the age of 8. You can make a solid case that the king most of us have never heard of rivaled David: He carried out reforms that cemented the ideas of the religion we moderns now call Judaism. | King David is thought to have been born around 1000 B.C. Josiah entered the scene some 350 years later and, according to the Bible, became king at the age of 8. You can make a solid case that the king most of us have never heard of rivaled David: He carried out reforms that cemented the ideas of the religion we moderns now call Judaism. |
| For one, Josiah made the temple in Jerusalem the center of religious devotion. “He abolished any other cult places and said, ‘No, you have to come to the temple in Jerusalem. That is the only place you can worship,’” said Dr. Gadot. In doing so, he made Jerusalem into something more than a place. Today it remains an idée fixe of Judaism. | For one, Josiah made the temple in Jerusalem the center of religious devotion. “He abolished any other cult places and said, ‘No, you have to come to the temple in Jerusalem. That is the only place you can worship,’” said Dr. Gadot. In doing so, he made Jerusalem into something more than a place. Today it remains an idée fixe of Judaism. |
| The strategic reason for doing so, Dr. Gadot said, is obvious: “The dynasty needed legitimacy to rule over places that were distant.” Centralizing the religion in Jerusalem enhanced the power of the kingdom. | The strategic reason for doing so, Dr. Gadot said, is obvious: “The dynasty needed legitimacy to rule over places that were distant.” Centralizing the religion in Jerusalem enhanced the power of the kingdom. |
| Josiah deserves credit, also, for creating a more streamlined, monotheistic religion by stamping out the idol worship that was rampant among his people at that time. | Josiah deserves credit, also, for creating a more streamlined, monotheistic religion by stamping out the idol worship that was rampant among his people at that time. |
| “It seems every time they dig in Jerusalem there are idols. Especially fertility idols,” said Rabbi David Wolpe, the author of “David: The Divided Heart.” Josiah, not to mention the various prophets who lived during the time of the First Temple, “wouldn’t be so obsessed with idol worship if it wasn’t happening all around them,” he added. “People don’t go around saying don’t swing a monkey in the public square unless people are actually swinging monkeys.” | “It seems every time they dig in Jerusalem there are idols. Especially fertility idols,” said Rabbi David Wolpe, the author of “David: The Divided Heart.” Josiah, not to mention the various prophets who lived during the time of the First Temple, “wouldn’t be so obsessed with idol worship if it wasn’t happening all around them,” he added. “People don’t go around saying don’t swing a monkey in the public square unless people are actually swinging monkeys.” |
| Interestingly, the one verse where Natan-Melech is mentioned seems to be about destroying idols: “And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Natan-Melech the officer, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.” | Interestingly, the one verse where Natan-Melech is mentioned seems to be about destroying idols: “And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Natan-Melech the officer, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.” |
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