Shelomit seal
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Shelomit seal is an elliptical black stone seal (2.1 × 1.8 cm) excavated by Eilat Mazar in Jerusalem, January 2008. It was found in a stratified layer estimated at 2,500 years old, just outside the Old City walls near the Dung Gate. Written in the paleo-Hebrew alphabet, it is part of a larger group of artifacts known as Canaanite and Aramaic seal inscriptions.
Design
The stone depicts two bearded priests standing on either side of an incense altar with their hands raised forward in a position of worship. A crescent moon, symbol of the chief Babylonian god Sin, appears on the top of the altar. It has been described as a common and popular Babylonian cultic scene.
At the bottom are four Paleo-Hebrew letters: Shin, Lamed, Mem, Tau. A detailed paleographical analysis was performed by Ryan Byrne's and published by the Biblical Archaeology Society.
Controversy
Two possible readings
Mazar initially read the inscription as "Temech" (תמח tmḥ), and associated it with a family named "Tamah" in Nehemiah 7:55.
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 BCE. The family was among those who later returned to Jerusalem.
“Shelomit seal” enters the record as open-knowledge reference entry. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Shelomit, seal and Open-knowledge can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Shelomit seal” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Shelomit, seal and Open-knowledge provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7493925. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2008.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Shelomit seal”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Shelomit seal primary sources, Shelomit seal archive and Shelomit research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Shelomit seal”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Shelomit seal” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.