Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant: Expanding Horizons through Interdisciplinary and Scientific Approaches

A joint research project of the University of Bern and Tel Aviv University

Funded jointly by the Swiss National Science Foundation (no. 10008887) and the Israel Science Foundation (no. 1195/26).

Stamp seals are miniature objects with an exceptional capacity to illuminate the societies that produced and used them. Their forms, materials, inscriptions and images offer evidence for ancient identities, beliefs, social relations, technologies and networks of exchange. This four-year project investigates stamp seals and seal impressions from the southern Levant during the second and first millennia BCE by combining archaeological and historical research with digital methods, materials science and experimental archaeology.

The project builds on the Swiss National Science Foundation Sinergia project Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant: A Multi-Faceted Prism for Studying Entangled Histories in an Interdisciplinary Perspective (2020–2024), conducted by the universities of Zurich, Bern and Tel Aviv. That project completed the corpus-building phase of the Corpus of Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant (CSSL) and developed an open-access digital database comprising more than 12,500 records, some 9,000 of which are already publicly accessible. With this extensive corpus and its digital infrastructure now available, the new project moves from assembling the evidence to exploiting its full research potential.

Its central aim is to open new horizons in the study of ancient glyptics. The project will use the CSSL database to reassess the production, circulation, use and meaning of stamp seals across several major historical transitions. At the same time, scientific analyses will identify raw materials and reconstruct production processes that cannot be understood through conventional archaeological observation alone. Together, these approaches will shed new light on craft knowledge, technological choices, cultural interaction, trade networks, social identities and ritual practices in the ancient southern Levant and its interconnected world.

Project directors

Prof. Dr. Ido Koch, Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University
✉ Ido Koch: idokoch@tauex.tau.ac.il
Prof. Dr. Stefan Münger, Institute of Jewish Studies, University of Bern
✉ Stefan Münger: stefan.muenger@unibe.ch

Research clusters and modules

The project is organized into three interrelated research clusters comprising seven modules.

Research Cluster 1: The Social History of Stamp Seals

This cluster draws on the completed CSSL database to examine three important phases in the history of stamp seals: the Middle Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the transition from the Persian to the Hellenistic period. It approaches seals not only as chronological or iconographic markers but also as objects through which production, consumption, cultural interaction and social change can be investigated.

Module 1: Revisiting East Mediterranean Interconnections

Led by Dr. Nadia Ben-Marzouk, University of Bern

Module 1 investigates the social contexts of glyptic production and consumption in the southern Levant during the Middle Bronze Age. It will explore workshop organisation, technological choices, regional connections and the adaptation of Egyptian and other eastern Mediterranean traditions. The module will also conduct the first systematic study of writing and pseudo-writing on Middle Bronze Age seals from the region. By integrating the CSSL dataset with the scientific results of Modules 4 and 5, it will reassess how materials, techniques, motifs and signs circulated across the eastern Mediterranean.

Module 2: Scarabs of the Iron Age

Led by Netanel Rinon, Tel Aviv University

Although Iron Age scarabs were widely distributed across the Mediterranean, those from the southern Levant have never been studied as a complete corpus. Module 2 will establish a refined typology and chronology based on the CSSL database and the archaeological contexts of finds from sites throughout the region. It will distinguish imported objects from local products and identify regional groups, including Phoenician, northern Levantine and southern Levantine traditions. The study will clarify patterns of production, circulation and cultural interaction during the first half of the first millennium BCE.

Module 3: The End of Stamp Seals?

Led by Dr. Benjamin Greet, University of Bern

Module 3 examines the transition from the Persian to the Hellenistic period, when stamp seals are generally thought to have declined and Greek-style engraved gems and other forms of portable imagery became more prominent. It will assemble and analyze stamp seals and seal impressions of the Hellenistic period and compare them with coins, jewelry, sculpture, figurines, ceramics and mosaics. The module will ask whether this transition represents a genuine change in the use of seals or partly reflects distinctions imposed by modern scholarship, and will investigate how these objects expressed identity and participation in broader cultural networks.

Research Cluster 2: Scientific Approaches to Stamp-Seal Production

The materials and production techniques of southern Levantine stamp seals remain poorly understood. This cluster combines archaeological research with advanced scientific analyses conducted in collaboration with laboratories at Tel Aviv University. Its investigations focus on raw-material procurement, mineral and chemical composition, engraving techniques, pigments, firing processes and the identification of animal species used for bone seals. Methods include X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), archaeomagnetism, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), computer vision, three-dimensional modelling and experimental archaeology.

Module 4: The Production of Steatite Scarabs

Led by Sharon Zuhovitzky (Tel Aviv University) in collaboration with the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Tel Aviv University) and the TAD Center for AI and Data Science (Tel Aviv University)

Module 4 reconstructs the production sequence of steatite scarabs during the early second millennium BCE. It will investigate the geological sources of steatite, the composition of pigments and coatings, engraving methods, and firing techniques and temperatures. Scientific analysis, computer-assisted comparison and archaeological experiments will test the traditional distinction between scarabs produced in Egypt and those produced in the southern Levant. The results will illuminate the transmission of craft knowledge, connections among different industries and networks of technological and economic exchange.

Module 5: Stamp Seals Made of Composite Materials

Led by Sharon Zuhovitzky (Tel Aviv University) in collaboration with the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Tel Aviv University)

Module 5 focuses on seals made of composite materials such as faience, paste and Egyptian blue from the early and middle second millennium BCE. Objects that appear similar to the naked eye may represent different recipes, glazing techniques and technological traditions. Microscopic, mineralogical and chemical analyses will therefore examine their internal composition and production. Comparison with steatite scarabs will reveal whether artisans working in different materials shared techniques, pigments and systems of knowledge.

Module 6: Iron Age Bone Seals

Led by Koch and Münger in collaboration with Prof. Lidar Sapir-Hen (Department of archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures and the Steinhart Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University) and Prof. Hila May (Department of Anatomy and Biological Anthropology, Tel Aviv University)

Module 6 studies a distinctive group of bone seals produced in Judah during the ninth and eighth centuries BCE. Using a newly developed, non-destructive micro-CT method, the project will analyze the internal microstructure of the seals and compare it with reference samples to identify the animal species from which they were made. The results will contribute to the study of raw-material selection, resource use, human–animal relations and the possible ritual meanings associated with these objects.

Research Cluster 3: Synthesis and Dissemination

Module 7: Revisiting Introductions

Led by Münger and Koch

Module 7 will bring together the results of the project and recent advances in glyptic research. Its principal outcome will be a comprehensive, open-access edited volume in the Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, Series Archaeologica. Conceived as a twenty-first-century introduction to stamp seals from the southern Levant, the volume will address materials, production, typology, chronology, iconography, archaeological context and the varied functions of seals in administration, exchange, religion and personal adornment. It will serve both as an accessible guide for students and newcomers and as an authoritative resource for specialists.

The project will also produce a volume in the Cambridge Elements series on the archaeology of ancient Israel. Written for a broader readership, it will present stamp seals as material objects whose manufacture, movement, use and meaning provide distinctive perspectives on the ancient southern Levant.

Collaboration and Impact

The project brings together researchers from the University of Bern and Tel Aviv University with specialists in archaeology, history, glyptic studies, digital humanities, materials science, medicine and zooarchaeology. At Tel Aviv University, scientific collaboration involves the Jan Koum Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, the TAD Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, the Gray School of Medical and Health Sciences, and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History.

Through scholarly publications, workshops, international conferences and open-access resources, the project will foster collaboration among established and early-career researchers and train a new generation in the interdisciplinary study of ancient glyptics. Its broader purpose is to demonstrate how even the smallest artefacts can transform the study of technology, society, culture and religion in the ancient world.

Digital Resources

Project Duration

Four years (2026–2030)