Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant

A research project led by the universities of Bern, Tel Aviv, and Zurich and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

What is the project about? 11,000+ stamp seals, sealings, and seal impressions dated from the Neolithic to the Hellenistic period (330 BCE) have been documented through controlled excavations in what are today Israel, Jordan, and Palestine. The longevity, number, and [1/4]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

Also on Saturday (June 1), at the University of Zurich (Rämistrasse 59, Aula G-01), Dr. Daphna Ben-Tor will deliver a keynote on “Ideological Differences between Representations of the Pharaoh during the 18th and 19th Dynasties as Reflected on Scarabs and Stamp-seals”.

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

In two weeks, between May 31 and June 1, we will host a two-day conference to celebrate the end of our project, showcase the main outcomes from the last four years, and introduce the new database.

For more info and to register for the online component: https://t.co/EAza5rkuvp

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

On Saturday (June 1), at the University of Zurich (Rämistrasse 59, Aula G-01), the main achievements and results of the several sub-projects of the project will be presented and discussed.

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

Hot of the press, an article from @silasklein, a project member, describing the origins of “Iconographic Exegesis,” an interpretive perspective that explains biblical texts from their comparison with ancient visual remains.

Download it at: https://t.co/GZ2zeazEqf

[Silas Klein @silasklein]

My account of the origins of iconographic exegesis is (after a long gestation) out at @CbrJournal. This is part of my research module in the frame of the @LevantineSeals research project.

It's full open-access; you might look at it at: https://t.co/7tc7IuKFjQ.

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

In two weeks, an exciting group of international scholars will join us in the workshop “Beyond the ‘Biblical World’ Paradigm: Religion, Mediality, and Gender in the Southern Levant.”

The session will happen at the IOSOT 2022. Check the entire program at: https://t.co/5ojqOrMkpy

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

Bruno Biermann, a staff member of our project, was featured recently on the @UZH_ch podcast Erleuchtung Garantiert and discussed how the study of ancient seals can be used to reveal and overcome prejudices about past sexualities and gender roles. Tune in! https://t.co/A9DlIh60pS

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

Bruno Biermann, our staff member, was just awarded the 2022 Sean W. Denver Memorial Prize for the paper “Seals from the Southern Levant and Gender Archaeology: Theoretical and Practical Considerations”! The paper was delivered at last year's SBL Annual Meeting. Congrats, Bruno!

[Albright Institute @AIAResearch]

Sean W. Dever Memorial Prize Winner 2022 - https://t.co/9gVl1D1zFx

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

… sealings impressed with royal Egyptian seals have also been discovered in the Levant. [3/3]

(Text: Tatjana Beuthe / Image: Jar from Egypt, Luxor, ca. 1492-1473 BCE, Metropolitan Museum 36.3.83) #metmuseum #ancientworld #archaeology #ancientlevant

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

What is a seal impression? The impression left by a seal on clay or plaster. Seal impressions are used by individuals and institutions to guarantee the contents of a container or sealed storehouse. When used on documents, they indicate the participation of individuals … [1/3]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

institutions in private or legal transactions. Seal impressions can also serve for branding purposes, to indicate the prestigious origin of an item. The impression on this jar sealing shows the name of Pharaoh Hatshepsut. This vessel was found in an Egyptian tomb, but … [2/3]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

referred to as Trans- and Cisjordan. (Text and image edit by Silas Klein Cardoso; photo © NASA Visible Earth) #ancientlevant #stampseals #digitalhumanities #ancientworld #southernlevant

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

What is the Southern Levant? Scholars use the term “Southern Levant” as a tentative neutral geographic term to refer to the region comprising the modern states of Jordan, Palestine, and Israel (in contrast, “Northern Levant” would refer to Lebanon and Syria). [1/4]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

The southern part of the Levantine region is geographically bounded in the west by the Mediterranean shores, and spans east to the Arabian desert. The area is naturally divided by the Syro-African Rift, splitting the region east and west of the Jordan River, respectively… [3/4]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

Digital Humanities era.

(Photo by Bruno Biermann / Text by Silas Klein Cardoso) #ancientneareast #archaeology #digitalhumanities #stampseals #LevantineSeals [4/4]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

This week our team paid a visit to the intellectual founder of our project. Othmar Keel, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), dreamed in the late 1970s of a corpus of all stamp seals found in scientifically controlled excavations [1/4]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

Palestine, and Jordan. The project's impact went far beyond Biblical Studies, attracting the attention of disciplines such as Archaeology, Egyptology, History and the Study of Religion. Our project aims to bring this corpus to completion, and to ensure its transition to the [3/4]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

also blank. [3/3]

(Photo: Jar from Egypt, Saqqara, ca. 2649-2100 BCE, Metropolitan Museum / Text: Tatjana Beuthe) #LevantineSeals #metmuseum #ancientworld #archaeology

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

What is a sealing? An unfired piece of clay or plaster, that covers or is attached to an object, e.g. the jar shown here. Sealings were and are still used to guarantee the contents of a container, a storeroom or document. When used on a vessel, they are also meant to [1/3]

[Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant @LevantineSeals]

guarantee the quality of its contents, and when used on a door, they indicate the contents are safeguarded. Did you know? Many ancient sealings found in the Levant, Egypt, and the Near East are blank and not impressed with a seal. This jar from the age of the Pyramids is [2/3]