And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 2 Kings 23:11
"Archaeologists were excited by the discovery of a seal and a small
clay seal impression (bulla), with ancient Hebrew script on them on the
western slope of the City of David, Jerusalem.
The 2,700-year-old seal
impression translates as “[belonging] to Nathan-Melech, Servant of the
King”. In 2 Kings 23:11 Nathan-Melek is named as an official of the godly King Josiah of Judah (7th century BC).
The items were found inside the remains of a large public
administrative building that was likely destroyed during the Babylonian
destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Archaeologist Dr Yiftah Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority
explained, “What is important is not just that they were found in
Jerusalem, but [that they were found] inside their true archaeological
context. It is not a coincidence that the seal and the seal impression
are found here.”
This wonderful find serves to connect another specifically named
individual from the Bible to real physical history in the correct time
period, confirming that we can be confident the Bible is reliable." CMI
