Jerusalem Seals: 605 BCE Drought and Later

Clay sealings were used to seal supplies sent out from temples, often on packages bound with twine. This opportunity was taken to turn the sealings into a sort of religious news service. These stone seals (or decorative inlays) and sealings seem to have been taken from the Jerusalem temple itself and dumped into a trash pile outside the city sometime after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE.

For translation methodology see: How to Translate Alphabetic Akkadian Texts

Lake bottom Core sample data from the Sea of Galilee showing the droughts

Lake bottom Core sample data from the Sea of Galilee. In historical times it shows two major droughts with several minor ones. Minor droughts are indicated anytime the curves turn downward.
The 50 year long Great Drought of 1180 to 1140 BCE (Iron Age 1 period) is what ended the Bronze Age and the 5-year long Elijah drought of 845-840 BCE. The yellow gives the tree pollen level while the green gives the non-tree pollen level. (Langut and Finkelsein 2013)

The area known as Ophel is the end region of the hill emerging from the temple mount on the bottom right side of this photo. Its most recent excavation area (parking lot) done by Benjamin Mazar and Eilat Mazar is circled in red. This is where most (but not all) of these seals were found. Photo from Clines (2016).

Droughts Defined the Archaeological Periods in the Levant

(May 3, 2023) Droughts separate the archaeological periods in the Levant. States weakened by local droughts were often subject to raids right after the droughts by Mesopotamian empires which were unaffected due to their irrigation. Below is the latest widely accepted chronology proposed by Amihai Mazar in 2014 shown below:

Droughts According to Drought Chart

1180-1140 BCE - Great Drought
980 BCE
845-840 BCE - Elijah Drought
732 BCE - led to Assyrian invasion
605 BCE - led to Babylonian invasion

Diagnostic Letter Shapes For Dating

605 BCE - "A" has square peak. "L" has hooked appendage.
732 BCE - "A" has pointed peak. "L" has flat appendage.

References

Langut, D. Finkelsein, I, Litt, T. (2013) Climate and the Late Bronze Collapse: New Evidence from the Levant. Tel Aviv 40:149-175. Online at https://www.academia.edu/6053886/Climate_and_the_Late_Bronze_Collapse_New_Evidence_from_the_Southern_Levant
Mazar, Amihai (2005) The Debate over the Chronology of the Iron Age in the Southern Levant: its History, the Current Situation and a Suggested Resolution. pp. 15-30 in: T. Levy and T. Higham (editors), The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating - Archaeology, Text and Science. London. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/2632501/The_Debate_over_the_Chronology_of_the_Iron_Age_in_the_Southern_Levant_its_History_the_Current_Situation_and_a_Suggested_Resolution_2005

Weight Ball weighing 1 shekel having "S" sign showing origin of dollar sign

One shekel weight ball showing an Etruscan styled letter Samak "S." This weight is now displayed at the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem. This letter would later be interpreted as the number 8. Online at: https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/374093-0

Silver reale coin (Piece of 8) minted in 1758 in the then Spanish colony city of Lima, Peru which had silver mines. Notice the number 8 on the left image and the proto-dollar sign on the right. Silver came from mines in Peru and Bolivia which are some of the richest on earth. Bolivia’s Potosí mines alone produced over half of the world’s silver in the first 100 years of its existence. The region’s mines were so successful, the Spanish peso became the first global currency by the end of the 18th century. Image from: https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Lima-Peru-pillar-8-reales-Ferdinand-VI-1758JM-dot-over-both-mintmarks_i34624935

One Shekel Weight from Jerusalem with Etruscan Style Letter "S" Looking Like Number 8

(Feb 23, 2023) This 1 shekel weight was found in Jerusalem. Archaeologists date it to between 700 and 600 BCE. This number 8 looking "S" letter sign is not Israelite but derives from the Aegean Island and Etruscan traditions (its earliest example is from trading caravan graffiti at Wadi el-Hol in Egypt). This letter seems to derive from the Akkadian word "sakalu" meaning "a hoard" and "to acquire." From that comes the Biblical Hebrew word "shekel." It weights 11.38 grams.

This Alphabetic Akkadian letter is the source of the dollar sign ($) via the Spanish. When Spain underwent a coinage reform in 1497 CE, the dollar was introduced as Spain’s new unit of currency being valued at 8 reales. Its full name was "peso de ocho reales" or "weight of 8 reales" or just "pieces (pesos) of 8." This shekel/dollar weighed 27 grams. This was the main coin of the British colonies which later became the United States. Yet the name for the "dollar" came from the coin used in the German states at the time called the "Thaler" or "Taler."

Translation in Akkadian

(Read right to left. Capital letters on tablet. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verb is italic bold)

In English.

1 S (with S meaning "Shekel")

Top is a sealing example while bottom is the actual stone seal. This was found during archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon's Ophel excavation in Jerusalem in 1961. Present location not known. Seal made of grey stone, 17 x 14 x 7 mm.

Drought Due Filtrate Not Being Energized (605 BCE Drought)

(May 4, 2023)

Translation in Akkadian (Levant Text 60.147)

(Read right to left. Capital letters on seal. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verb is italic bold)

Lu Ḫu Gi Ya [Bu] (Levant Text 60.147.1)
IṢu A Lu (Levant Text 60.147.2)

(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)

In English

Any-Lack of Hu is not from energizing the nourishments (filtrate)
Scarcity is from the lack