A seal recently discovered in the City of David reads “Rephaihu (ben) Shalem.” Archaeologist Aren Maier, who directs the on-going excavations at Philistine Gath, reports on an inscription which may be connected to the word “Rephaim,” mentioned in the Bible in various places including 2 Samuel 21:16-22.
UPDATE (3/4): The post above has been greatly altered from the original. This inscription is from Gath, not Jerusalem, and it was incised on a jar, and is not a seal. Thanks to Aren Maier for the correction. My apologies to all for the errors. When word comes of the second seal found in the City of David, I’ll note it on this blog.
One thought on “Inscription Discovered at Philistine Gath”
Tod,
Hi! Sorry for the misunderstanding, but I did not claim that the so-far unknown seal is from Gath. Rather, I was simply mentioning a short inscription that we had found a few years ago, in which a possibly similar name (possibly read as “rp'”) is mentioned. It is incised on a jar dating to the late 9th cent. BCE
Aren