Page 396 - עידן האימפריות

the yhwd stamp impression system, is the mid-2nd century BCE – i.e. when
the Hasmonean Kingdom was established. The yršlm stamp impressions
were probably also part of a temporary ad-hoc administrative system which
aimed to institute Hasmonean rule in Jerusalem as part of the establishment
process in the city. A total of eight types (=seals) are known in the yršlm
stamp impression system, and 104 handles have been found until now in
excavations and archeological surveys. 58 yršlm stamped handles were
discovered in Jerusalem (about 56 percent of the entire corpus), 33 handles in
Ramat Raḥel, while most of the other yršlm stamped handles were also found
in the close surroundings of Jerusalem.
The use of stamp impressions on jar handles was discontinued after the
last third of the 2nd century BCE, and this 600-year phenomenon completely
disappeared. The main claim in this book is that it was an administrative
phenomenon which continued throughout the lengthy period in which Judah
was subjugated by the large empires: Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and
then the Ptolemaic and the Seleucid dynasties. This system was unknown and
unfamiliar prior to this subjugation period, and upon the establishment of the
Hasmonean Kingdom it ceased to exist. It had existed regardless of the status
of Judah as a subjugated kingdom or a province, and the assumption is that
it was part of the collection and gathering of agricultural products in Judah
(mainly of wine and oil), and that these products were sold and the income
converted into expensive metals which were paid by Judah as its annual
tribute.

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