In Israel, the archaeologists during the excavations in Jerusalem have discovered a unique print age of about 2500 years. Transcript inflicted on them of symbols as the “city of David” was not abandoned after the Babylonian conquest.
About the opening told the Times of Israel. One of the black spots in the history of Jerusalem is the period of the so-called conquest of Babylon or the Babylonian captivity. It is mentioned in the Bible. It is known that the “city of David” was destroyed by the Babylonian army in 586 BC.
However, almost nothing is known about what happened in the city in subsequent years. One popular hypothesis States that the surviving citizens fled and settled in other places. Found in the Jerusalem print indicate that this little-known period of time in Jerusalem flourished bureaucracy. This means that the city continued to live and gradually recovered.
Rare artifacts were discovered during excavations near the Old city walls. Earlier in all of Israel was found only 10 such artifacts Dating from the Persian period (about 536 BC – 333 BC).
the Seals were made of clay. One of them, apparently, was the official, and the second produced in the handicraft way. Maybe it was a fake seal or stamp made illiterate official, who was standing on the lowest hierarchical level.
According to archaeologists, the artifacts indicate that a resurgent Jerusalem, there were several levels of bureaucracy. The Bible also talks about the bureaucracy that existed in Jerusalem at this time.
it is believed that during the Persian period the Jews made a “return to Zion” after their exile that followed the destruction of the First Temple. This is stated in the biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Find seals confirms it. By the way, they were found in a pit filled with debris. Apparently, there were temporary huts which have been erected in the courtyard of an earlier iron age building, which was destroyed by the Babylonians in the year 586 BCE.
“We knew that in the Persian period, there was bureaucracy, says Dr. yiftah Shalev. – But two stamps indicate that the ruined city continued to operate the public service. This is the first such artifacts indicating the existence of such a service in Jerusalem.”
Findings prove that the city was not completely abandoned by its inhabitants. Most likely, the refugees settled on the outskirts, building temporary shacks. These houses were literally built on the ruins. Thus, the artifacts found will help to fill the vacuum that exists in the history of Jerusalem.
“the Discovery of the seals indicates that, despite the difficult situation after the Babylonian invasion, the city was the effort to restore the administrative authorities to a normal level, and its inhabitants continued to use partly the buildings that were destroyed,” say the archaeologists.
