Aniconism and Theophoric Names in Inscribed Seals from Judah, Israel and Neighbouring Kingdoms

Abstract

In this article I examine whether there is a relationship between aniconism and name type on Iron II stamp seals. Specifically, I investigate whether Hebrew and non-Hebrew stamped seals with a theophoric name are more often aniconic than those with a non-theophoric name. I also analyse whether Hebrew stamped seals with a Yahwistic name are more often aniconic than those with a non-Yahwistic name. The study reveals that there is a link between aniconism and stamp seals: approximately half of all stamp seals are aniconic, while almost all bullae and stamp seals on jars are aniconic. Seals with a Yahwistic name are significantly more often aniconic than those with a non-Yahwistic name. Thus, notwithstanding the contribution of literacy to aniconism, I suggest that image prohibition played a role in the evolution toward aniconism in Hebrew seals.

Keywords:

• Aniconism
• Iconography
• Personal names
• Stamp seals
• Iron II
• Ancient Israel
• Image prohibition

Notes

1 The examples for the following categories (given in parenthesis) originate in iconic inscribed seals unearthed in archaeological excavations and listed in Appendix A.

2 Henceforth, all the dates are BCE, as stated in the original publication, unless otherwise noted.

3 For an in-depth examination of personal names in Israel and Transjordan during the Iron II, see Golub 2014: 621–642.

4 A statistically significant difference is a difference that is not attributable to chance.

5 A few artefacts that were found on the ground in archaeological sites by chance are also included in this study.

6 For a list, see Golub 2017: 21.

7 The iconography on the seal לכוהי םלשבטל—a two-winged horned uraeus—appears on the reverse

side (Reich and Sass 2006: 315).

8 Please note that I follow the publications: most stamped seals are dated by centuries in the publications (see (5) date by century above).

9 Only one seal is attributed to the 9th century—אבאל (see Avigad and Sass 1997: 400). This seal, however, was a chance surface find. Four seals and two bullae dated in the publications to both the 8th and 7th centuries are marked in the study as belonging to the 8th century. These are םקילא שמידד (ibid: 400–401), רמאלאל (ibid.: 427), שאי ןב והינתנל (Ornan et al. 2008: 118), אשוא והיעדיל (ibid.), סאמ ןב והיקלחל (Avigad and Sass 1997: 199; Renz and Röllig 2003: 215), and דבע ךלמה עבלכלמל (Avigad and Sass 1997: 388).

10 Note that the date is used only in the chronological distribution analysis of artefacts but not in the correlation analysis between aniconism and the type of a name. Thus, disagreements among scholars regarding the artefact’s date does not affect this study’s results.

11 The site’s territorial affiliation in the seal’s specified period is used for three seals whose territorial affiliation is unclear: רמאלאל (ibid.: 1997: 427), אזעל (ibid.: 441) and עחחל (Beit-Arieh 1998: 36).

12 Two or more stamped seals which mark the same person are counted only once, such as the repeated seal impressions found on 8th-century jars (Lipschits et al. 2010: 6).

13 For the importance of inferential (or inductive) statistics in archaeology, see Shaus et al. 2017.

14 A non-Yahwistic name may be theophoric, including a divine appellative or a divine name other than YHWH.

15 See Footnote 4.