Sale: CNG 79, Lot: 1534. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 17 September 2008.  Sold For $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IRON AGE. Palestine. Æ Pendant Seal. 8th-6th centuries BC. Seal with tri-partite pendant. Seal face depicting a lion advancing on ground line; illegible name engraved below. Length: 2.9cm. See R. Deutsch & M. Heltzer, New Epigraphic Evidence from the Biblical Period, p. 71. Good condition, with a mottled green and brown patina. Some earthen encrustation and surface wear.

This piece is very close in design to a seal with an Aramaic inscription discussed by Deutsch and Heltzer. The authors note that bronze pendant seals of this design are rare and can likely be attributed to a single workshop. They were cast in one piece, with inscriptions engraved to order beneath the dividing line on the face of the seal.