Archaeologists have seemingly made a major new biblical discovery, as they appear to have found remnants of a fingerprint on a seal dating back over 2,600 years.
Remnants of religious history are constantly being found across the globe, and scientists have been been about to pinpoint to equivalent of Adam and Eve hundreds of thousands of years into the past using new technology.
One major recent find appears to link to a biblical doomsday though, as a scroll detailing a form of the end of days has been kept closed by a fingerprint seal dating all the way back to the First Temple period.
As reported by the Express, the clay seal also known as 'bulla' contains an ancient Hewbrew inscription reading: "Belonging to Yeda'yah (son of) Asayahu."
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The fingerprint itself is believed to be from the original owner of the seal – presumably Yeda'yah – who could link to accounts of King Josiah of Judah in the Bible.
This specifically relates to a section from Deuteronomy, which outlines the curses one would be subject to if you were to disobey the teachings of God.
For example, the section states that you'd be 'cursed in the city and cursed in the country', causing your basket, kneading trough, fruit of your womb, crops of your land, calves of your herds, and lambs of your flocks to suffer the same fate.
This is effectively a life-ending curse that would be hard to escape from, and even extends until you're 'destroyed and come to sudden ruin'. It also appears to affect the lands you inhabit, blasting them with disease, scorching heat, drought, and other horrific forms of devastation.
Upon reading this decree, the aforementioned King Josiah sent men, allegedly including Asayahu, to remove pagan practices from Jerusalem, so understandably many have saw this as further proof of religious history intertwining with our own.
Others aren't perhaps quite as convinced though, as Zachi Dvira, co-director of the archaeological project that unearthed this seal, has expressed his doubts that this explicitly confirms what many are thinking.
Dvira details that he is "not sure that the Asayahu mentioned on the sealing is the same that appears in the Bible. However, several such artefacts found in the area of the Temple Mount carry biblical names, and it does make sense, because these were not objects used by common people."
What researchers understand in addition is that this particular seal was likely used to secure a bag or another similar item that was carried around, but it could original from as early as the late 7th or early 6th century B.C.