Showing Results 1 - 10 of 145
Bulla of Gemaryahu son of Shaphan, Jerusalem (City of David), late 7th or early 6th century BCE. This clay seal impression belonged to Gemaryahu, who was likely the scribe Gemariah son of Shaphan…
The masonry in the royal palace of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom, is considered the finest example of ashlar masonry from the Iron Age. The blocks are cut so well that they fit together…
This limestone model of a shrine, around 8 inches wide, 10 inches long, and 14 inches high (20 cm × 25 cm × 35 cm), was painted red. The façade features a triple-recessed door frame, above which is a…
In this terra-cotta plaque figurine from Tell Beit Mirsim, 6 inches (15 cm) high, the pregnant woman’s arms cradle her belly and her navel and genitalia protrude. Incisions indicate the eyes, the hair…
In this terra-cotta figurine from Beersheba, 5.5 inches (14 cm) high, the face is made by pinching the clay to draw out the nose, thereby forming the eye sockets. The nose has a beak-like appearance…
This terra-cotta figurine from Lachish is very schematic, and the rider’s legs are not shown. The rider cannot represent an average person because people—even kings—more often rode on donkeys and…
In this terra-cotta dove figurine from Beth Shemesh, 4 inches (10 cm) long, care was taken with the shape of the head and body and in showing the tail by painted lines. Yet there are no feet and the…
The backs of many bullas, like those shown here from the City of David in Jerusalem, have impressions of the strings that once tied the rolled document and marks from the papyrus fibers of the…
“Four-room” house plan, Iron Age II. The typical Israelite dwelling was a rectangular or square house of between roughly 500 and 1,200 square feet (50–110 sq m). It is often called a “four-room” or…
This drawing and the following replica of a pillared house are composites of many excavated houses from the Iron Age, 1200 to 586 BCE; none has been discovered standing. The images show domestic…
