An archaeological team claimed that they have found strong evidence that the biblical kings David and Solomon were real.
The team from the Mississippi State University found six official clay seals at an excavation site in Gaza, Israel, which they believe have existed during the time of King David and Solomon. The artifacts that might have been used to seal official written documents also confirmed that the type of government was in place a long time ago. The team has been excavating the site since 2011.
"Our preliminary results indicated that this site is integrated into a political entity that is typified by elite activities, suggesting that a state was already being formed in the 10th century B.C.," said Jimmy Hardin, associate professor in the MSU Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, in a university news release. "We are very positive that these bullae are associated with the Iron Age IIA, which we date to the 10th century B.C., and which lends general support to the historical veracity of David and Solomon as recorded in the Hebrew biblical texts."
"These appear to be the only known examples of bullae from the 10th century, making this discovery unique," he added.
The official clay seals were found between Judah and Philistia, which archaeologists thought were farmlands. The latest discovery revealed that it might not be that rural as previously thought. Two of the seals' impressions were complete, two were partial, and two have none.
The researchers brought the seals to Jeff Blakely of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has studied the excavation site for 40 years. He confirmed that the artifacts date as far as the 10th century. He also used archaeomagnetism dating to verify it.
" The style of the bullae, the types of ancient pottery found in the same contexts as the bullae, the types of Egyptian scarabs found, the style of an Egyptian amulet, and the overall stratigraphy or layering of the site each suggested a 10th century date," Blakely said.
Further details of this discovery were published in the December 2014 issue of Near Eastern Archaeology.
