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1/ Today on #Archaeology_Online, a story that you dont hear every day, combining archeology of the Ancient Near East and modern history in a way that doesn't happen much. This #thread has Philistines, merchants, Irish and nomads. So Let's start. >>
@nickfshort @nidgethompson
@nickfshort @nidgethompson
2/ >> This story revolves around a seal with a Phoenician inscription, it may not sound like something exciting, but the Phoenician script was adopted at some point by the Philistines. The writing is dated to the 8th century BC, but how do we know it's Philistine? >>
3/ >> The seal reads:
"To Abd alab, seven years old
Abed Matat Ben Tzedaka"
There are no titles in the script, but based on comparisons it's agreed it's Philistine. Comtemporary Assyrian records mention 2 Philistine kings of Ashkelon, one of them Sidka (Tzedaka). >>
* The seal.
"To Abd alab, seven years old
Abed Matat Ben Tzedaka"
There are no titles in the script, but based on comparisons it's agreed it's Philistine. Comtemporary Assyrian records mention 2 Philistine kings of Ashkelon, one of them Sidka (Tzedaka). >>
* The seal.
4/ >> But I promised an Irish connection & nomads. The seal is first mentionedin April 1849, then Edward Clibborn of the Royal Irish Academy, wrote that the seal is near Dundrum in Dublin. 12 years later in 1861, the seal was sold by "Miss Walsh" to the British Museum for £ 5. >>
5/ >> In 1865 Sir Henry Rollinson wrote the seal was a so-called remnant of Phoenician wanderings. In 1934 David Diringer wrote that the seal arrived in Ireland by seafarers, but niether indicates how the item arrived in Ireland, & only hint that it arrived in ancient times. >>
6/ >> There is an alternative theory. Miss Walsh was in fact a relative of Robert Walsh, a historian from Dublin, who traveled extensively. He was also a well-known collector of coins and published a number of works on archeological discoveries and Constantinopole. >>
7/ >> This sounds reasonable, that the item was owned by Robert Walsh, but there are some issues. The first publication of the item was before Walsh's death, so Walsh could have stated it's place of origin, also when the seal was sold they confirmed its origin in Ireland. >>
8/ >> A possible answer comes from a 2017 study. A number of tin ingots that were discovered off the coast of Haifa Israel & were chemically analyzed. The results of the study showed that the source of the tin, the mine from which it came, is in Cornwall, England. >>
9/ >> The ingots are dated with certainty to the 13th-12th centuries BC, meaning that this is evidence of trade between the British Isles and the Ancient Near East in these centuries. Does this also explain how the seal arrived in Dublin? This shouldn't be ruled out.
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