[Elder of Ziyon] Archaeology news part 2: Stone seal depicting Samson?

Ma'ariv reports on the discovery of a stone seal that seems to depict an image of a man holding onto a lion-like animal with a large head and tail.

The seal was excavated in Tel Bet Shemesh, and comes from around the 11th century BCE, the same time period that the biblical Samson was said to have lived, according to the archaeologists who discovered it, Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman from Tel Aviv University.

In the Biblical story from Judges 14, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands, and used it as a source for a riddle that ended up starting a feud with the Philistines.

The archaeologists also discovered an early pre-Kingdom temple in the area, which had thousands of animal bones that seemed to be of Israelite origin.

(h/t Yoel)



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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder of Ziyon at 7/29/2012 05:30:00 PM