LMLK--A Mystery Belonging to the King [Hardcover]

G.M. Grena (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 097487860X | ISBN-13: 978-0974878607 | Publication Date: May 14, 2004 | Edition: 1st

During the past century, a particular artifact excavated from the area around Jerusalem in Israel has baffled the brightest minds of Biblical archaeology! These jar handles with mysterious seal impressions may be the remains of the first Judeo-Christian reformation. A number of verses in both the Old Testament & New Testament pertain to these remarkable treasures, & this is the first comprehensive book in English to explore the mystery in depth!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Does this represent the glory of God?

Is this the handwriting of the great prophet Isaiah?

What did the cherubs in Solomon's Temple really look like?

"Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor & another for dishonor?"--Romans 9:21

About the Author

G.M. Grena applies expertise from the world of high-tech electronics & computers to this fascinating phenomenon of ancient jar handle seal impressions, & arrives at some unique conclusions that force a paradigm shift for students of Biblical archaeology.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 425 pages
• Publisher: 4000 Years of Writing History; 1st edition (May 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097487860X
• ISBN-13: 978-0974878607
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,763,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best single source for information on LMLK handles., June 10, 2004

By 

Greek1 (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LMLK--A Mystery Belonging to the King (Hardcover)

Anyone with an interest in Old Testament history or archaeology should take a serious look at this book. The subject of the book is the stamped jar handles that have been found in Israel that have the Hebrew inscription "LMLK" on them. This inscription means "(belonging) to the king." Most of the handles also have another word on them which has traditionally been associated with one of four cities in the Jerusalem area, Hebron, Socoh, Ziph, and Mamshet. The author describes these seal impressions in detail, categorizing the 21 known types by style and probable date. Scholarly consensus is that these artifacts date from the reign of king Hezekiah (729-687 BC) and may have been part of the preparation for the invasion of the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701 BC. This dating was confirmed by David Ussishkin's excavations at Lachish, a town in the Judean foothills that Sennacherib boasts of having destroyed and that produced numerous LMLK handles.
The book begins by introducing the basic history and facts about LMLK handles. Grena proposes a new classification system for identifying and organizing the seal impressions (which easily supersedes previous attempts at classification). Grena then presents a very large amount of primary data, ranging from photos, measurements, and statistics to an extensive review of the published literature. The book ends with an intriguing section on the function of the original LMLK jars. Which sets of seals were made first? Were the jars intended for religious use, governmental collection, or military preparation? Do the words on the handles indicate actual cities, regions, religious categories, or some other use? How should the geographic dispersion of the handles affect our interpretation of them?
A couple of unique characteristics of this volume should also be mentioned. A CD is included in the back cover. The CD contains the entire contents of the book, including text, drawings, maps, fonts, and photos. This is helpful in several ways- it makes it easy to search electronically for a particular word or item, it makes it easy to use the information in another format (such as a PowerPoint presentation), and it encourages further development of Grena's work by others, which is the author's intent. Another really neat feature is the inclusion of a clear overlay with 1:1 drawings of each seal type. This allows any reader to see the actual size and shape of the seals, and it also allows anyone with access to an actual LMLK handle to quickly classify that handle by placing the overlay on top of the seal impression.
There can be no doubt that this book has taken the study of LMLK handles to a new and exciting level. This is the best single source for information on LMLK handles available today. I for one am already looking forward to the appearance of volume 2!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Biblical Archaeological Adventure!!!!!, June 3, 2004

By 

Brenda L. Welch (Deltona, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LMLK--A Mystery Belonging to the King (Hardcover)

Dr. Greorge Grena has done an amazing job of starting with the first LMLK Jar Handles excavated under the Temple Mount in 1868 right up to the present day. Do these handles contain emblems that represent the glory of God??? Or were they just sacred bugs and sun discs? One thing is clear these handles have definitely affected the Archaeological dating of the many sites excavated in Israel. Do they come from the late 700s BC or do they come from the late 600s BC. Dr. Grena's drawings of the 21 known LMLK seals are the best, most accurate representations surpassing even Dr. Andre Lemaire's(of the James Ossuary Controversy) chart from the early 1980's.
This LMLK Book and the LMLK DotCom Research Website provide fascinating material that you cannot easily find. I highly recommend this book!!!!!!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New study of royal Judahite jar handles highly recommended, June 20, 2004

By 

Peter van der Veen (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LMLK--A Mystery Belonging to the King (Hardcover)

This is an excellent and very exhaustive volume on the exciting study of the lemelek jar handles from ancient Israel. It is well structured, interestingly written and sheds new insight on an old topic. It surely is one of the best books on the subject. I agree with the author that the jars did not just precede the 701 BC invasion of Judah by King Sennacherib of Assyria! I think that some of the jars remained in use after 701 and some seem also to have been manufactured well into the 7th cent. BC. (an issue which is now increasingly held by leading scholars in the field).

George Grena`s exciting suggestion that the type 484 store jars were mainly used for religious purposes is exciting, even though I am not entirely sure yet that this will be the end of the story. Nonetheless as I have suggested myself in the past, the winged sun disk does seem to be an icon for Yahweh (as e.g also Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger from Fribourg Univerisity have previously argued). I am not completely sure though, that this was originally an icon for Yahweh, which then was adopted by other nations of the ancient Levant. At any rate the icon is early and was adopted quite early in Israel (e.g. the Ta'anak cult stand), but was felt to be appropriate by many Judahites, as indeed many biblical texts do underline that e.g. Yahweh`s face shineth forth etc. Note also that one of king Hezekiah`s ministers (as attested on several bullae from his reign) is called Yehozarah = "Yahweh shines". Yahweh is worshipped as the divine monarch, who is the light of the nations and who enlightens his people Israel. The solarization of Yahwism did not end with Hezekiah`s reign, however, but instead even increased during the reign of his son and successor Manasseh, during the first half of the 7th cent. BC. The solar icons of Hezekiah`s reign surely seem to have been misappropriated during Manasseh`s reign, who according to 2Kgs 23 changed Yahweh`s temple into an idolatrous solar shrine. The horses dedicated to Yahweh were located there (probably statues - note also that the horse is linked to Shamash in Assyria (Manasseh was a vassal of the Assyrians!), but also already earlier on e.g. the Ta'anak cult stand, i.e. if the animal seen in the first register is indeed a horse - as suggested e.g. by Glen Taylor. The horses were smitten during king Josiah`s reform (ca. 625 BC). Horses (as probably dedicated to the sun) are also shown on some lmlk jar handles as well as on the unprovenanced seal of a Ashyahu servant of the king (a known minister of king Josiah and perhaps already of Manasseh). All this gives me reason to think that several lmlk jar handles may still have been made during the reign of Manasseh, who then may have used them for different purposes or also for offerings paid to Yahweh`s temple (much in line George Grena`s exciting theory), where his more solarized representations of Yahweh were then worshipped. I am less certain that Hbrn, Swkh, Zyp and Mmsht are to be understood as mere descriptions related to worship as Grena suggests, but even then this suggestion is worth further consideration and certainly most thought provoking!

This thorough volume on the subject is worth reading and should be highly recommended to lay man and student/ scholar alike. Anyone who is interested in the epigraphy of ancient Israel must read this book!

Peter van der Veen PhD candidate (ancient Israelite epigraphy)