Rare mother-of-pearl seal highlights movement of goods and ideas across Assyrian empire

'There was significant interest in the trade of seashells'

2,600-year-old shell, used for a tiny seal stamped with an Assyrian-era religious symbol, originated in the Indo-Pacific. How did it reach the Holy Land?

By Zev Stub

You will receive email alerts from this author.

Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author.

Manage alert preferences on your profile page

Today, 11:15 am

Edit

Zev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.

How did a shell from a pearl oyster native to the Indo-Pacific make its way to the Land of Israel 2,600 years ago?

A tiny, iridescent stamp seal found at the Tel Hadid archaeological site in central Israel gives some clues into far-flung trade networks and offers a unique glimpse into life in the years after the ancient Kingdom of Israel was overtaken by the Assyrian Empire 2,600 years ago, according to a study published last month in the journal Levant.

While most seals found in the region are made of stone, this one was delicately fashioned from mother-of-pearl, a fragile substance made from the inner layer of a mollusk shell found thousands of kilometers away, according to the paper written by Tel Aviv University professor Ido Koch and graduate students from TAU’s archaeology program.

This rare material, along with the imagery of a deity associated with northern Mesopotamia, suggests possible origins in trade and cultural networks.

“We were interested in understanding the chain of operations that led to the creation of this unique item and how it relates to interregional trade between the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the southern Levant,” Koch told The Times of Israel.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition

by email and never miss our top stories

By signing up, you agree to the terms

“There was significant interest in the trade of seashells during this period, and some are quite beautiful,” he said.

The seal was discovered in 2019 in a rock-cut refuse pit on the northeastern slope of Tel Ḥadid, about 25 kilometers southeast of modern-day Tel Aviv. The pit contained dozens of ceramic vessels, animal bones and other debris dating to the Iron Age, likely discarded after a destructive event that affected nearby homes.

One find stood out: an oval-shaped artifact, broken into two pieces, whose shimmering surface hinted at an unusual material. Researchers say the seal, measuring less than two centimeters in length, was carved from the shell of a Pinctada margaritifera, native to the Indo-Pacific.

While mother-of-pearl from such shells was highly prized in antiquity for its iridescent beauty, its use was extremely rare in Levantine seal production, and has not previously been documented in the regional corpus, researchers said.

The stamp seal made with mother-of-pearl found at Tel Hadid (Sasha Flit, TAU; drawing by Ulrike Zurkinden, SSSL)

“To the best of our knowledge… this is the only known stamp seal from the southern Levant produced from this material,” Koch wrote in the paper.

Fine craftsmanship on a delicate material

Adding to the mystery, the seal appears to depict a symbol associated with the moon god of Harran, a deity whose cult originated hundreds of kilometers away in northern Mesopotamia.

This symbol was widely used throughout the Neo-Assyrian world and appears on seal impressions and other objects from the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, researchers said.

The moon god’s emblem usually consists of a crescent mounted on a pole or standard. In some examples, worshipers stand before it in adoration.

The Tel Ḥadid seal appears to contain similar elements. One triangular figure may represent a worshiper facing the sacred symbol, while another shape may depict an altar or ritual object.

A close-up of the seal, with certain features highlighted for researchers (Sasha Flit, Tel Aviv University)

Microscope and chemical analyses of the artifact show that the craftsman likely used a bronze tool to engrave lines on the delicate material. The imagery is not entirely clear, however, and researchers believe the design may have been altered during the engraving process, the report said.

Tel Aviv University professor Ido Koch (Courtesy)

Examination of the seal showed that a hole running through its center was drilled from both ends with remarkable precision. The two tunnels met almost perfectly in the middle, creating a neat perforation that would have allowed the seal to be suspended on a cord.

That means its main purpose was not as an administrative tool, Koch said.

“Most stamps of this sort functioned as amulets in antiquity,” Koch explained. “It’s kind of like wearing a pendant today.”

The findings indicate several possibilities for the seal’s origins, the paper concludes. It may have been manufactured remotely and imported, manufactured locally, or engraved locally on a prepared shell blank imported for this purpose.

“The available evidence does not permit these possibilities to be disting…