A black stone seal found in an archaeological dig in Jerusalem adds more proof to a growing mountain of tangible evidence showing the accuracy of the Bible’s account of history. The seal, found in excavations taking place in the City of David just south of the Temple Mount, bears the name “Temech,” listed in the biblical book of Nehemiah as one of the families of servants in the first temple of Solomon who were sent into exile to Babylon after the destruction of the temple in 586 BC. The seal was found in stratified layers of previously unexcavated debris during the third excavation season of Eilat Mazar. Dr. Mazar works on behalf of the Shalem Center and the Ir David Foundation and under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In the 5th century BC, the Persian King Artaxerxes i made Nehemiah governor of Judah to return to Jerusalem and repair its walls, which had been left in ruins since the destruction of the first temple. As part of this renovation project, a tower was built along the eastern ridge of the top of the City of David. This tower, and the city wall adjacent to it, were erected very quickly on top of several layers of debris.

Though it still stood until very recently, that tower was in a state of disrepair and ready to collapse. Beginning this past summer, Dr. Mazar and her team methodically dismantled it in order to reconstruct it, and then excavated the layers underneath that had been sealed for centuries by the tower’s construction. In that debris near teh Dung Gate lay this stone seal.

Photo: Edwin Trebels courtesy of Dr. Eilat Mazar

According to the Book of Nehemiah, the Temech family were servants of the First Temple and were sent into exile to Babylon following its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
The Bible refers to the Temech family in the Book of Nehemiah: “These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,” [Nehemiah 7:6]… “The Nethinim [7:46]“… The children of Temech.” [7:55].

“Perhaps it is not by chance that the seal of one of the members of the Temech family was discovered in our excavations that is located only dozens of meters away from the Ophel area, where the Nethinim lived at the time of Nehemiah,” said Dr. Mazar, referring to Nehemiah 3:26. “The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archaeology and the biblical sources,” she said. “It is tangible evidence that relates to a known family mentioned in the Bible.”

This seal follows other, similar discoveries made in the same area in the City of David. In 2005, Dr. Mazar’s team found a bulla (a clay disc used to seal scrolls) bearing this inscription: “Jehucal, son of Shelemiah.” Jehucal was a royal officer who worked in the administration of King Zedekiah, Judah’s last king before going into Babylonian captivity during the sixth century b.c. He is referred to twice in the book of Jeremiah (37:3; 38:1). Another bulla, found years earlier, was inscribed with the Hebrew name “Gemariah, son of Shaphan.” Mentioned in Jeremiah 36:10, he was one of the princes of Judah during Jehoiakim’s reign. His father, Shaphan, worked for King Josiah (2 Kings 22:3).

“One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find,” Dr. Mazar said of her latest discovery.