In the Hebrew Bible, the rare name of Nathan-melec is given to a servant of the King Josiah during the Book of Kings. He is said to have lived near the Temple of Jerusalem , close to the courtyard where the horses had been kept that were used in sun-worshiping. Until earlier this year, there was no other evidence this man really existed, but the rare and exciting find of a bulla, or stamp seal, in the City of David could change all that.
Speaking in March, Dr Anat Mendel-Geberovich, from The Hebrew University said: “This is the bulla of Natan-Melech, servant of the King and since he was not mentioned by his last name, we can understand that he was pretty famous in Jerusalem, during the mid seventh century BC, at the time of King Josiah.
“Now, this name, Natan-Melech is mentioned in the Bible only once, in the second book of Kings, where he is mentioned as an official of King Josiah.
“In a story about the famous religious reforms of Josiah, who removed the horses that the former kings had dedicated to the Sun.
“The one million dollar question, it am I holding in my hand the bulla of the same Nathan-Melech that was in the Bible?
“I can never say for certain, but what I can say is there is an overlap in three things – first the name which is rare, second the period we’re talking about and third is the fact that we have the title, so he was close to the King.”
Dr Yiftah Shalev, from the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed how the stamp may have become buried beneath the rubble.
He added: “I’m standing right now in one of the rooms of a very large structure, a structure that was built somewhere in the seventh or eighth century BC.
“It was destroyed in a big fire, most probably in 586BC during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.
“The room was preserved and filled with the destruction, most probably from the second floor above it.
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Professor Yuval Gadot, from the Department of archaeology, Tel Aviv University, said: “I’m standing in the Givati Parking Lot excavation being run by the Israel Antiquities authorities and Tel Aviv University in the National Park of the City of David.
“I am holding in my hand a seal with ancient Hebrew letters bearing the name Ikar Ben Matanyahu and I’m standing in the room where this seal was found on the floor in the destruction of Jerusalem in 586BC.
“It’s not a coincidence that this building and the seal that were found in it are located here.
“We are actually in a building that is built on the slopes of the City of David ridge, towards the central valley.”