Storage Wars B.C.E.

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Digging in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem, archaeologists have uncovered a large storage center, which was active in the days of Kings Hezekiah and Manasseh. They have found 120 stamped jar handles, belonging to jar types that often held wine or olive oil. Many of the stamped handles feature the phrase LMLK in the Old Hebrew script, translated “to the king.” Below these letters appears a winged sun disk and the name of one of four Judahite cities: Hebron, Ziph, Socho, or Mmst (still unidentified). Other handles bear the names of senior officials or prominent individuals. Although stamped handles have been found throughout the Kingdom of Judah, this is one of the largest collections found to date.

Located between ancient Jerusalem and Ramat Rachel, this large structure seems to have served as a tax collection center and, thus, testifies to Judah’s centralized administrative system. It functioned when the inhabitants of Jerusalem were threatened by Assyria, during the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.E. This discovery hints that they may have been stockpiling supplies, such as wine and olive oil, to prepare for a possible Assyrian attack. Readers of BAR will be familiar with some of their other preparations, such as digging the Siloam Tunnel to bring water from the Gihon Spring into western Jerusalem within the safety of the walls.^a

After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. at the hands of the Babylonians, the tax collection center was abandoned for some 50 years. Under Persian control, when the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem, the tax center was resettled. It functioned for a period until mysteriously being covered by a large pile of flint stones,^b spanning nearly 2 acres and measuring about 65 feet high.

Digging in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem, archaeologists have uncovered a large storage center, which was active in the days of Kings Hezekiah and Manasseh. They have found 120 stamped jar handles, belonging to jar types that often held wine or olive oil. Many of the stamped handles feature the phrase LMLK in the Old Hebrew script, translated “to the king.” Below these letters appears a winged sun disk and the name of one of four Judahite cities: Hebron, Ziph, Socho, or Mmst (still unidentified). Other handles bear the names of senior officials or prominent individuals. Although stamped handles […]