Neriah ( he, נֵרִיָּה ''Nērīyyā'', "My lamp is Jah") is the son of Mahseiah, and the father of Baruch and

Seraiah ben Neriah Seriah ben Neriah was a Jewish aristocrat of the sixth century BCE. He was the son of Neriah and the brother of Baruch ben Neriah, the disciple of the biblical prophet Jeremiah. Seriah served as chamberlain of King Zedekiah of Judah.Josephus, "Je ...

. He is mentioned in the

Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah ( he, ספר יִרְמְיָהוּ) is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the boo ...

(32:12 and 51:59) of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

Talmud

The

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

lists him and his sons as prophets.

Historicity

In 1975, a clay ''

bulla Bulla (Latin, 'bubble') may refer to: Science and medicine * Bulla (dermatology), a bulla * Bulla, a focal lung pneumatosis, an air pocket in the lung * Auditory bulla, a hollow bony structure on the skull enclosing the ear * Ethmoid bulla, pa ...

'' purportedly containing Baruch's seal and name appeared on the antiquities market. Its purchaser, a prominent

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i collector, permitted the Israeli

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Nahman Avigad Nahman Avigad (Hebrew: נחמן אביגד, September 25, 1905 – January 28, 1992), born in Zawalow, Galicia (then Austria-Hungary, now Zavaliv, Ukraine), was an Israeli archaeologist. Biography Avigad studied architecture in what is n ...

to publish the bulla. Although its source is not definitively known, it has been identified as coming from the "burnt house" excavated by

Yigal Shiloh Yigal and Yigael are given names. People with those names include: *Yigal Allon (1918–80), Israeli politician, acting Prime Minister, a commander of the Palmach, and general *Yigal Amir (born 1970), Israeli assassin of Prime Minister of Israel Yi ...

. The ''bulla'' is now in the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

. It measures 17 by 16 mm and is stamped with an oval seal, 13 by 11 mm. The inscription, written in the

ancient Hebrew alphabet The Paleo-Hebrew script ( he, הכתב העברי הקדום), also Palaeo-Hebrew, Proto-Hebrew or Old Hebrew, is the writing system found in Canaanite inscriptions from the region of biblical Israel and Judah. It is considered to be the script ...

, reads: In 1996, a second clay ''bulla'' emerged with an identical inscription, presumably stamped with the same seal. This ''bulla'' was also imprinted with a

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

;

Hershel Shanks Hershel Shanks (March 8, 1930 – February 5, 2021) was an American lawyer and amateur biblical archaeologist. He was the founder and long-time editor of the ''Biblical Archaeology Review''. Life and career Shanks was born in Sharon, Pennsylvani ...

, among others, speculated that the fingerprint might be that of Baruch himself. The authenticity of these ''bullae'', however, has been disputed.^''ibid.'' Another ''bulla'' was found with the name of "Seraiahu, son of Neriyahu", believed to belong to

.Historical Evidence for Jeremiah the Prophet
/ref>

References

{{Reflist Prophets in Judaism Hebrew Bible people Book of Jeremiah Baruch ben Neriah

Talmud

Historicity

See also

References