Page 400 - עידן האימפריות

as a large and established system already in the last quarter of the 8th century
BCE were the early types of the lmlk stamp impressions, characterized by
the combination of three elements on each of the stamps: a symbol (a scarab
with four wings or a winged sun), the definition of possession –‘belonging to
the king’ (lmlk), and the name of a place (one of four: Hebron, Ziph, Socho,
and Mmšt). This system, although it is the earliest, stands out in the quality
of the seals and the standard shape of the jars. It excels in the large number
of types (= 11 seals), in the numerous stamped handles attributed to it (680
handles which originate in archeological excavations and surveys), and in
the relatively widespread distribution within the borders of the Kingdom of
Judah, especially in the Shephelah.
The system of the early types of lmlk stamp impressions is probably
parallel in its later phase to that of the ‘private’ stamp impressions
characterized by two written rows, usually with a hyphen between them,
which include a private name and the father’s name, sometimes with the
word ‘son’ between them, and almost always without any ornamental
component. This system employed 45 types (=seals), of which we are
familiar with 169 stamped handles found in excavations or in archeological
surveys. Attention should be paid to the fact that the distribution of the
‘private’ stamp impressions is similar to those of the early types of the lmlk
stamp impressions. The argument presented in this book is that the system
of the ‘private’ stamp impressions is the first of the ad-hoc systems that
operated in Judah for a short period and for a specific purpose, in this case,
as part of the preparations for the Sennacherib Campaign (701 BCE). This
system ceased to exist after the Assyrian Campaign, but it was not the last
ad-hoc system of stamp impressions on jar handles which operated in Judah
when the need for it arose.
The system of the late lmlk stamp impressions went into operation in
Judah at the beginning of the 7th century BCE. It continued the earlier one
almost in every aspect: The jars were of the same type and the seals were
made with the same basic concept of three elements: a symbol (in the late
stamp impressions it is always the double-winged symbol), definition of
possession (lmlk), and the name of a place (one of four names: Hebron,
Socho, Ziph, and Mmšt). Nevertheless, it seems that the use of writing was
fading away: the place name was missing in a number of types, in others the
definition of possession (lmlk) was missing, and in some both these elements

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