The evidence that Samson lived?
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| Samson in the Treadmill, by Carl Bloch, Danish painter, d. 1890. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Beth Shemesh, or "House of the Sun," is located about 19 miles (30 km) west of Jerusalem in the Sorek Valley and near the ancient border between the Israelites and Philistines in the Iron Age. According to the book of Judges, Samson was born, lived part of his life, and was buried in the area across the valley from Beth Shemesh (Judges 13:2, 25; 16:31). Further, the story of Samson fighting and killing a lion (Judges 14:5-6) is recorded as having occurred on the way from his family home to Timnah--a site identified as Tel Batash and located only a few miles from Beth Shemesh.
The story in which Samson fights a lion falls somewhere around the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 11th century BC, according to the chronology derived from various books of the Bible and synchronisms with ancient Near Eastern king lists. The seal, found in a layer dated to the 11th century BC, comes from a time soon after these events in Samson's life. The seal was discovered in the area not only where Samson lived much of his life, but also near where the fight with the lion occurred, suggesting that the story was known in the area not long after the events occurred. The actual depiction on the seal may even closely match a number of details the Samson account. In the book of Judges, Samson is supposed to have long hair due to a lifelong Nazarite vow (Judges 13:5; 16:17). On the seal, the human figure has long hair and possibly a beard (although it is difficult to be completely sure). In the encounter with the lion, the lion is said to be young (Judges 14:5). On the seal, in addition to the tail tassel unique to lions, the feline has pointed ears but no mane, which would match the appearance of a young lion. Finally, in the fight with the lion, Samson used his bare hands to kill the lion because he had no weapon (Judges 14:6). On the seal, the arm of the man is visibly outstretched towards the head of the animal as if punching or about to grab, but there is no weapon or implement in his hand. Thus, the geography, chronology, and depictions on the seal all closely match the Samson and the lion encounter recorded in Judges 14, suggesting that the seal may have been made to depict or commemorate the event. Although the identification is tentative, it is a possibility that the scene on the seal is early evidence for the knowledge of the Samson story in ancient Israel.
News release about the seal find: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/seal-found-by-israeli-archeologists-may-give-substance-to-samson-legend.premium-1.454504
Photo of the seal can be seen here: http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/artifacts-and-the-bible/lion-seal-from-beth-shemesh-sparks-samson-discussion/
