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INSET: PHOTO MIKI KOREN, COURTESY OF THE ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY

BENAYAHU’S BULLA. Discovered in an archive of legal documents from the City of David in Jerusalem and dated to the sixth century B.C.E., this clay bulla reveals two Judahite names from the end of the Iron Age II. It reads הושעיהו בן לבניהו, meaning “(Belonging) to Benayahu son of Hosha‘yahu.” Both names are theophoric, with Benayahu meaning “Yahweh has created/built” and Hosha‘yahu meaning “Yahweh has helped.”