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Zev Radovan
About 250 rosette-stamped handles, like that of the wine decanter from the House of Ahiel (see photograph), have been found, but only 2 belong to wine decanters. The rest were found on ovoid storage jars. One of these storage jars, with rosettes stamped on two of its opposing handles, was recovered from a storeroom next to the House of Ahiel. The rosette-stamped storage jars resemble earlier jars bearing a better-known royal stamp: the inscription lmlk, meaning “belonging to the king.”
The prominence of the rosette-stamped decanter’s discovery site, and the presence of a rosette-stamped storage jar similar in shape to the earlier lmlk jars, are two reasons why author Jane Cahill believes the rosette was a mark of royalty in Judah.