Of Stamps and Seals and Purity

Act 1:   Bringing the Mishna to life 

The announcement from the Israel Antiquities Authority came just before Chanukah.  The timing was a tour guide’s dream.  Every guide in Jerusalem would be talking about how over 2,000 years ago on that first Chanukah the Maccabees found just one flask of oil in the Temple with the seal of the High Priest certifying its purity.  Now we had a real seal from the Temple!

A small piece of fired clay the size of a button had been discovered in the soil under the Herodian street near the south west corner of the Temple Mount.  It was inscribed with two lines of Hebrew letters and dated to the late Second Temple period.  It was, said the announcement, “probably used as a voucher certifying the ritual purity of an object of food in the Temple”.  The inscription read “"דכא ל'ה.  The excavators, Ronny Reich and Eli Shukrun explained that this meant “Pure for G-d”.  This inscribed piece of clay was direct archaeological evidence of the workings of the Temple.  It may not actually have been the High Priest’s seal on a flask of oil but it was almost as good.

An inscribed piece of clay from the Second Temple.  Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

Within a few days Professor Shlomo Naeh from Hebrew University had helped us keep our feet firmly on the ground.  The object could not have been used as a stamp to impress on a container – because the inscription was positive not negative.  It couldn’t have been used to seal a container and ensure the ritual purity of the contents - it had no way of being attached.  His careful reading of the Mishna (Shekalim, 5, 1-5) showed that this was a voucher or token used in the purchase of sacrifices in the Temple.

A person bringing a sacrifice would pay for it at the Temple “office” and receive a voucher inscribed in Aramaic.  He would then exchange the voucher for the appropriate sacrifice.  The inscription on the clay object, Professor Naeh explained, was exactly as described in the Mishna and the Jerusalem Talmud.  It specified the type of sacrifice (in this case a ram), the day of the week (Sunday) and the family of priests who were serving in the Temple that week (Yehoyariv).  These tokens never left the Temple precincts so it’s no wonder that they are rarely found now. 

This inscribed piece of clay is tiny, 2 centimetres in diameter, and yet it helps to bring the workings of the Temple and the pages of the Mishna to life.  Sometimes it’s the little things that count.

Here are links to the press releases from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Hebrew University.

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Act 2:   Early Competition for the OU

In the 6^th century CE, when the land was under Roman Byzantine rule, Acco and its surrounding area was predominantly Christian.  A Jewish housewife living in that setting would have had to take extra care that the food she bought was kosher.  She could of course go directly to the source and see the food being prepared with her own eyes.  But if that wasn’t possible she might do what many of us do today and rely on a hechsher – a stamp or seal or label that told her that the food was prepared in accordance with Jewish law.  

Earlier this month the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a tiny ceramic stamp during excavations at Horbat Uza east of Acco in the north of the country.  It was found during a rescue dig there prior to the building of a new railway line.  The stamp is about 1,500 years old and it was used to stamp a hechsher onto bread.

A 1,500 Year Old Bread Stamp.  Photo: Dr Danny Syon courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

The potter had engraved the image of the Temple Menorah, the symbol of a Jewish bakery, on the face of the stamp before firing it in a kiln.  Afterwards the word “Launtius” had been scratched in Greek letters on its handle.  The excavators concluded that a batch of stamps was made each engraved with the menorah.  The baker then scratched his name, Launtius, on the handle of his own stamp.  Each loaf he baked would have been stamped with the image of the menorah and with his name.  This combination would assure the buyer that the bread was kosher.

Christian bread stamps inscribed with a cross were much more common in this period.  Bread stamps like this one with a menorah have come to light before but never in a controlled excavation.  This find testifies that there was a Jewish community in Uza in Byzantine times and suggests that the baker in Uza was producing baked goods for the nearby town of Acco.  It shows us that the hechsher has a history that goes back at least 1,500 years.  It’s another small discovery with a big story to tell.

Here’s a link to the Israel Antiquities Authority press release.