King Uzziah: Royal Seals and a Reburial Plaque

What archaeology found

Two seals, each belonging to a royal official, read 'Abiyau, servant of Uzziah' and 'Shebanyau, servant of Uzziah'. They were bought on the antiquities market, not excavated. In 1931 the scholar Eleazar Sukenik identified a stone plaque in the collection of the Russian convent on the Mount of Olives. Its Aramaic text reads: 'Here were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Do not open.' The style of its script dates it to around the 1st century BCE or CE. It is now in the Israel Museum.

Where it was found

Mount of Olives, JerusalemView on OpenStreetMap

Sources

1. E. L. Sukenik, Funerary Tablet of Uzziah, King of Judah, Palestine Exploration Quarterly 63 (1931)
2. Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 B.C.E., Society of Biblical Literature (2004)

Verdict history

• Nov 10, 2026SupportedInitial verdict.