Who maintained archives containing more than a thousand letters about 2,200 years ago, and why did he abruptly abandon it?
A rare and fascinating discovery at Tel Maresha fires archaeologists' imagination: It is evidence of an archive, the second of its kind discovered in Israel, dating to the Hellenistic period.
The archive was discovered during archaeological excavations carried out in the Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park, under direction of Dr. Ian Stern of the archaeological seminars and the Hebrew Union College, under the permission of the Nature and Parks Authority and with permission of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
During excavations carried out in a side room of an underground cave, 1,020 clay stamps from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE were exposed. The stamps were used in ancient times for signing letters and scrolls: If a letter arrived with its seal broken, it constituted proof the letter was opened before reaching the recipient.
The stamps, some of them figurines, sealed letters and scrolls written on ancient papyrus, which, unfortunately, did not survive the 2,200 years. Only the stamps remained to tell the story of the archive.
Dr. Donald Zvi Ariel of the Israel Antiquities Authority, one of the world's leading experts on seals, examined a group of 300 stamps and found Greek idolatries such as Athena, Apollo, and Aphrodite impressed on the seal prints, as well as cornucopia, erotic scenes, animals, and more.
According to his estimates, "this archaeological finding of more than 1,000 seals indicates an archive of large, private private documents that existed on the site and may have belonged to a well-to-do estate owner. It seems the archive was abandoned abruptly and this is particularly interesting in view of the events of the period written about, when John Hyrcanus the Hasmonean conquered the Edomites who lived in this land and forced them to convert."
Maresha was first excavated by Bliss and McAllister in 1900 CE on behalf of the British Foundation for the Study of the Land of Israel. In 1988-2000, the site was excavated by Prof. Amos Kloner on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Bar-Ilan University. Since 2000, the caves have been dug by the Maresha expedition, led by Dr. Ian Stern and Bernie Alpert of the Archaeological Seminars and the Hebrew Union College, in coordination with the Antiquities Authority and the Nature and Parks Authority.
The ancient Maresha, now part of the Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park, is the richest source for the study of the multicultural world of the Hellenistic Land of Israel. According to Dr. Ian Stern, director of the excavation, "this finding joins other fascinating finds discovered in Maresha from the time when the city was a central and commercial crossroads. The study of the stamps, and the various figures that appear on them, can provide significant information about life and culture during this period in Israel."
