Clay Seal Impression with Flag Hieroglyph

Clay Seal Impression with Flag Hieroglyph

A clay seal impression preserved on an oval-shaped lump of fired clay found by the Nahal Tillah Expedition team on the Halif Terrace in 1994. The cylinder seal (ca. 3300-3000 BCE) was rolled over the clay sealing three times. The preserved inscription consists of a single, narrow line made up by three elements: a face (hr), two flagpoles (ntr.wy) and two identical signs read by Kaplony as mr.wy. According to Nahal Tillah Project Egyptologist, Edwin van den Brink, it can be translated as "My face is (the face of) the Two Loving/Beloved Gods." See Levy et al. in press for a detailed study of this piece.

For more information, see:

Levy, T.E., Alon, D., van den Brink, E.C.M., Kansa, E., and Yekuteli, Y.
in press The Protodynastic/Dynasty 1 Egyptian Presence in Southern Canaan: A Preliminary Report on the 1994 Excavations at Nahal Tillah, Israel. In S. Wolf (ed) The Douglas Esse Memorial Volume.