Megiddo Temple Texts 800-700 BCE

These sealings were placed on pots or packages bound with twine containing ritual supplies created at the Megiddo temple. Some of these supplies were sent out to local households and this opportunity was taken to turn the sealings into a sort of religious news service.

For translation methodology see: How to Translate Alphabetic Akkadian Texts

Megiddo excavation of 1905, found on top of the northern wall of Gatehouse 1567. Now at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum 2498. Seal made of Lapis lazuli 19 x 14 x6 mm.

Megiddo: Lack of Hu's Powers Causes Anger

(April 23, 2023) Image is of god Hu having a lion body (sun) and a hawk head (storms). That this image is a god is indicated by it wearing the double crown of Egypt. In front of Hu is the Egyptain Ankh sign representing life. The style of the "A" letters indicate a date before 700 BCE.

Translation in Akkadian (Levant Text 60.85)

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

Lu A AGu (Levant Text 60.85.1)

(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.

Lack of this causes anger

Previous Hebrew Translation Attempt

Some Hebrew language scholars claim the text reads as follows:

Belonging to Asap

References

Avigad, Nahman; Sass, Benjamin (1997) Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals. Published by THE ISRAEL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES, THE ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETY, THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, and THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/4786835/1997_Avigad_N_revised_and_completed_by_Sass_B_Corpus_of_West_Semitic_stamp_seals_Jerusalem

Megiddo excavations 1929, Square N9, unstratified (see Ussishkin 1994, 423), Find Number: M. 1710. Seal now at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem (number IAA 34.1490). This dates to around 750 BCE based upon other seals with the same sort of griffon on them.
Seal made of black serpentine with white spots, 15.5 x 11 x 5 mm.

Megiddo: When Will God Hu Intervene To Stop A Plague of Locusts.

(May 5, 2023) God Hu having the body of a lion (sun form) and the head of a hawk (storm form). That this statue is a god is indicated by the Egyptian double crown on his head. Ahead of Hu is the Egyptian ankh symbol representing life. Below it is a locust suggesting the land was experiencing a plague of locusts at the time.

Translation in Akkadian (Levant Text 60.85)

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

Ḫu Ku U (Levant Text 60.85.1)

(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.

Hu's involvement when?

Previous Hebrew Translation Attempt

Some Hebrew Scholars think the text reads:

Belonging to Hmn

References

Avigad, Nahman; Sass, Benjamin (1997) Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals. Published by THE ISRAEL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES, THE ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETY, THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, and THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/4786835/1997_Avigad_N_revised_and_completed_by_Sass_B_Corpus_of_West_Semitic_stamp_seals_Jerusalem

Crowns of Egypt

Wadjet was the goddess who represented lower Egypt but because this land also included the fertile Nile delta she was also identified with the life powers. Life powers always corresponded to the color red. Consquently she wore a red crown.
Her complement was the goddess Nekhbet who represented Upper Egypt and who came to be associated with the motion powers represented by the white celestial color. Consquently she wore a white crown.
Below the goddesses Wadjet and Nkebet surround the pharaoh at the temple of Edfu. (Wikimedia Commons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edfu_Tempel_42-2.jpg)

Double Crown on Horus Falcon

27th Dynasty - c500 BCE at Museum Ägyptischer Kunst. in Munich, Germany.
http://travelphotobase.com/v/DYM/DYMME192.HTM

Double Crown on God Horus

Horus here is indicated by having both bull horns and a hawk head. This relief is on the front wall of the Edfu temple in Egypt which was dedicated to the connective deities of Horus (storm form of Hu) and Hathor (Ayu). It was built during the Ptolemaic era between 237 and 57 BC.

Bought in Jerusalem in the 1920s. Now at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem (number IAA J.895). Seal is made of carnelian with white spots, 14 x 10 x 6 mm.

When Will Goddess Ayu (Winged Bee) Intervene (700 to 600 BCE)

(May 5, 2023) Image seems to be that of a bee goddess trailing pollen behind and connecting with something with its outreached arm. Ayu is the goddess having a bee correspondence because bees with their golden pollen carrying ability also direct fertility just like Ayu's editing power over the life network. This editing power restrains Hu as mentioned in the text.

Translation in Akkadian (Levant Text 60.159)

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

Ḫu LKu U (Levant Text 60.159.1)

(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.

Hu's constrainer when?

Previous Hebrew Translation Attempt

Some Hebrew Scholars think the text reads:

Belonging to Himelek

References

Avigad, Nahman; Sass, Benjamin (1997) Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals. Published by THE ISRAEL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES, THE ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETY, THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, and THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/4786835/1997_Avigad_N_revised_and_completed_by_Sass_B_Corpus_of_West_Semitic_stamp_seals_Jerusalem

This is a cast bronze reproduction of the original sealing found during an excavation of Megiddo. The original was dated to the time of Jeroboam II (790-749). It used to be displayed at Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem but was transferred to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem where it is no longer accessible online as of April 2023. (https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/372801-0).
Its letters can be double checked with the original image from the discovery report below. Originally it was the property of the Turkish sultan in Istanbul.

Reference

Schumacher, Gottlieb (1908) Tell el-Mutesellim, Volume 1, Report of Finds, Leipzig. Online at: https://sites.google.com/site/megiddoexpedition/the-expedition/publications/gottlieb-schumacher-s-excavation-report-of-tell-el-mutesellim

Life-Priests Blamed for Drought Due to Improperly Controlling Eagle Vultures

(December 18, 2023) Image is the sun lion indicating this is a statement about life powers. It first blames magic crafters for failing to push the fertility-fluids through the life-network. Then it goes on to blame the life priests for not changing their normal routine of directing the eagle-vultures which trim the life network.

Translation in Akkadian (Levant Text 20)

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

Lu Ṣu Ma'u (Levant Text 20.1)
'Bu ReYu Ru Ba'u Mu (Levant Text 20.2)

In English.

Lack of activity is from pushing (the fertility fluids by magic crafters)
Life-priests are shepherding the eagle-vultures nesting the fertility-fluids

Previous Hebrew Translation Attempt

This token was found near the northern wall of a courtyard in the 5th archeological strata. Schumacher's 1908 excavation report presented this translation (page 99):

[seal] of Shema
servant of Jeroaboam

The last line was divided as:

'BR YRB'M = servant Yaraboam

This is a valid Hebrew translation as far as it goes but names are not a translation, especially when they have no relation to the image.

Location of Megiddo

Image of Original Seal as Found in Discovery Report

Copy of image from discovery report. It was found in a courtyard numbered 1693 during the Megiddo excavations of 1904 led by Gottlieb Schumacher. Present location is unknown. It was reportedly made of green jasper and was 3.7 cm long, 2.7 cm wide, and 1.7 cm thick.

Apparently a Clay Impression of the Original

(December 18, 2023) On the right is a small bulla of unknown provenance that was purchased some forty years ago in the Bedouin market of Beer Sheva. The bulla was stamped with a seal depicting a roaring lion. It closely resembles the famous roaring lion seal from Megiddo. Significantly, this unique bulla represents the first example of an ancient bulla stamped with a scaled-down authentic seal of a known master-seal of the Iron Age in Israel. The authenticity of the bulla was confirmed by meticulous laboratory tests, verifying both that it is genuine and not a recent fake.

Yet the letters are unusual with the Ṣ having a left arm and the ayin now being a dot instead of a circle and placed away from the other letters. This indicates the copyists were mainly interested in the lion and belonged to a different but nearby time and place.

This is an RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) photo of the bulla by M. Magen at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. RTI is the latest technology which takes light from multiple angles and combines them in a computer so it brings out the fine details.

References

Shmuel Ahituv, Avner Ayalon, Mira Bar-Matthews, Yuval Goren, Michael Magen, Eliezer D. Orenand Orit Shamir (2023) A Seal Impression of "Shema' Servant of Jeroboam" TEL AVIV Vol. 50, 2023, 216–230. Online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/03344355.2023.2246817?needAccess=true