Image Details

P. Bienowski

“Qos-Gabr, king of Edom” is the name inscribed on the seal that created this impression. Discovered at the Edomite highland site of Umm el-Biyara, this bulla (clay seal impression) is the only known evidence of an Edomite king’s seal. Since Qos-Gabr (or Qaus-gabri) is mentioned in two Assyrian inscriptions that can be reliably dated to the seventh century B.C.E., the date of this seal impression, along with the relative dating of pottery found with it, was the basis on which archaeologist Crystal Bennett mistakenly concluded that Edom was not occupied before the eighth century B.C.E.