Fingerprint of Jeremiah’s Scribe

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Why do we seek to retrace the footsteps of Moses and Jesus? Why do we look for the places they lived?

Many archaeologists and scholars may quietly—or not so quietly—scoff at this interest.

I cannot explain it, but I will confess to it.

And so I am fascinated by the fingerprint of Baruch, the scribe, friend and confidant of the prophet Jeremiah. The Book of Jeremiah records that Baruch son of Neriah transcribed the prophet’s words, immortalizing them for eternity (see Jeremiah 32:12, 43:1–7, and chapters 36 and 45).

Baruch’s fingerprint is owned by a well-known collector named Shlomo Moussaieff, an Israeli who has lived in London for over 30 years and who owns a jewelry store in the London Hilton.^a I am a little uncomfortable at this. Baruch’s fingerprint should be in a museum. Perhaps it will be one day.

I learned that Moussaieff owns Baruch’s fingerprint from a book privately printed in Israel, entitled Forty New Ancient West Semitic Inscriptions. This oddly erudite book is published by another collector and dealer, a self-described archaeologist named Robert Deutsch. Deutsch operates two shops in Tel Aviv: in old Jaffa and the Dan Hotel, which he calls The Archaeological Center. Deutsch wrote the book together with Professor Michael Heltzer, a Hebrew Bible scholar and ancient languages expert at the University of Haifa. Strangely, neither author is identified in the book.

The book presents 40 artifacts bearing inscriptions that are now in the hands of private collectors in Israel and Europe (excepting one from a Tel Aviv museum). On one of these Baruch’s fingerprint appears faintly.

We already know of one extraordinary relic of 037Baruch’s, a bulla, or lump of clay, impressed with the scribe’s seal.^b That seal reads, in three lines of ancient Hebrew letters, “belonging to Berekhyahu, son of Neriyahu, the Scribe.”

Berekhyahu is the complete original name of Baruch, which means blessed. The suffix –yahu is a form of Yahweh, the personal name of the Israelite God. So the name means “Blessed of Yahweh.” Baruch’s father Neriyahu, who is called Neriah in the Bible, had a similar suffix in his name. These common suffixes are often dropped from the Biblical text.

This first bulla is now displayed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for all to see.

Mr. Moussaieff, as we learn from this book, owns another bulla impressed with this same seal, in an excellent state of preservation. The three registers of writing are divided by double lines and the whole is surrounded by a double framing line. On the back of the bulla are impressions of the papyrus fibers from the document that was once tied with string and then sealed with this lump of clay impressed with the sender’s seal.

Since both bullae are impressed with the same seal, there is almost no difference between them except this: Moussaieff’s bulla contains a fingerprint on the edge, presumably of the scribe who wrote and sealed the document to which it was attached. Here then is Baruch’s fingerprint.

There is something strangely moving about this intimate link to an important Biblical personality. Let us hope the public will someday be able to see it.

Another bulla bears the name ‘Azaryahu, who is identified as the “gate-keeper of the prison.” The term for prison appears twice in the Bible, but this is the first time the gatekeeper of a prison has been found in Hebrew epigraphic sources.

Among the actual seals (as opposed to bullae, or impressions of seals) is one that belonged to “‘Asayahu, servant of the king.” The title “servant of the king” designated a high public official in ancient Israel and Judah. It is quite possible that this ‘Asayahu can be identified as a Biblical personage. The seal is datable paleographically (by the shape and form of the letters) to the seventh century B.C.E. and easily fits into the second half of that century. At that time King Josiah of Judah instituted a religious reform centralizing 038worship in the Jerusalem Temple and, in that connection, repaired the Temple itself. In the course of the Temple repair, a scroll was found that scholars almost unanimously agree was the book of Deuteronomy (see 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34). Josiah asked several of his ministers to investigate the scroll. One of them was Asaiah (‘Asayahu), who might well be the owner of the seventh-century seal that identifies its owner by that name and as “servant of the king.” As the authors point out, Judah was a small kingdom and the number of high officials was not very large. Moreover, a number of other seals and bullae of high officials at this time have been found, including some that mention people involved with the scroll believed to be Deuteronomy, so this raises the likelihood that the ‘Asayahu of the seal is indeed the Asaiah in the Bible.

The ‘Asayahu seal is also interesting because it contains a picture of a horse. Many of the seals at this time were aniconic (not pictorial); this one is an exception. An engraving of a horse, however, is not surprising; the horse was associated with the worship of Yahweh.^c Three-dimensional horses were apparently placed at the entrance to the Temple itself: As part of Josiah’s reforms, “he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance to the House of the Lord” (2 Kings 23:11).

Another section of the book is devoted to inscribed bronze weights. Usually the shekel (and other) weights are inscribed in hieratic Egyptian signs.^d A dome-shaped bronze weight owned by Mr. Moussaieff, however, is inscribed with the word “shekel” written in Hebrew. This is the first time the word is found in Hebrew on a dome-shaped weight. This shekel weight weighs .57 ounces (16.3 grams), far more than the average shekel (.4 ounces [11.33 grams]).

Another interesting inscription appears on a wine decanter dating (based on the shape and form of the Hebrew letters and of the vessel itself) to the eighth-seventh centuries B.C.E. This was no ordinary wine decanter, however. It was apparently used in cultic libations. The inscription reads: “Belonging to Mattanyahu [again the –yahu suffix], wine for libation, (one) quater.” The Hebrew word the authors translate as libation is nesek, which appears frequently in the Bible (including every book of the Pentateuch) and is variously translated as “libation” (NJPS, NAB, NJB) or “drink-offering” (NRSV, REB).

Other finds are discussed in the following review, “Pieces of the Puzzle,” by Kyle McCarter.

A short preface written by the co-authors explains that “a tremendous amount of epigraphical material [has come] to light from chance finds, and as the result of building activities, but also from illicit excavations.” Some of these finds, they might have added, were probably stolen by workers at licit excavations. But they are correct to say that “the publication of important epigraphical material of unknown provenance, kept in private collections, is sometimes crucial for our understanding of the past … The real value of an epigraphical find is not the item itself but its publication.”

Many scholars will contest the authors’ assertion that “the exact context and locus [of the items] are of significantly minor importance.” In any case, as they say, the items published here “are ‘loaded’ with information.”

Why do we seek to retrace the footsteps of Moses and Jesus? Why do we look for the places they lived?