 Old Testament scholar Dr. Marjo Korpel from Utrecht University in Holland has concluded an ancient seal discovered in Israel in 1964 actually belonged to the notorious, evil Queen of Israel – Jezebel..
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"When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window." 2 Kings 9:30
Old Testament scholar Dr. Marjo Korpel from Utrecht University in Holland has concluded an ancient seal discovered in Israel in 1964 actually belonged to the notorious, evil-Queen of Israel – Jezebel..
The account -- recorded in 1 and 2 Kings -- tells the story of King Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel -- a Phoenician princess. When Jezebel arrived to take her place as Ahab’s side, she brought a wedding present for her husband -- 400 prophets of Asherah and 450 prophets of Baal. Almost immediately, two centers of idol worship popped up -- one at each of Israel’s capital cities. A Baal temple was build in Samaria and at the main palace in Jezreel, Jezebel set up the temple of Asherah where the 400 prophets of Asherah served this deity and ate at the table of Jezebel (1 Kings 16:32, 33; 1 Kings 18:19).
 In the end, she dominated her husband and effectively led the nation down the road to idolatry. Jezebel was eventually dealt with when her attendants threw her out the tower window at the order of Jehu a captain in the Israeli army.
Famous Israeli archaeologists Nahman Avigad (deceased), who first came across the relic in an antiquities market, speculated the seal may have once belonged to Jezebel.
“Though fit for a queen,” he said, “coming from the right period and bearing a rare name documented nowhere other than in the Hebrew Bible, we can never know for sure.”1
After this initial interest, the seal slid from public view. However, work on another project brought Korpel into contact with seal and after a thorough analysis; she concluded in an article published in the Journal for Semitics that it was in fact Jezebel’s seal. Her conclusions will also be reported in the reputable Biblical Archaeological Review.
“I am in my mind 99 percent sure it belonged to Jezebel,.” Korpel said in an interview with Harretz.com. Korpel is considered by many to be a careful and respected researcher and her conclusions have garnered a huge reaction in the archaeological community.
Seals were imprinted on documents through the use of clay or wax to indicate royal authority. In order, for these images to read correctly, the seal was created as a mirror image so it would read correctly once imprinted.
So what led Korpel to this conclusion? There were a number of factors:
The size of the seal
First the seal which measures 33 by 22 by 10 mm is exceptionally large and is twice the size of normal seals of that time. The intricate carvings and size suggest the owner was extremely wealthy.
Royal symbols
Secondly the seal incorporated elements from Phoenicia and Egypt that were not only used for royalty, but in some instances female royalty. This included a falcon, two cobras, a flower and a winged sphinx.
- The winged sphinx is a well known symbol of royalty in Egypt and significantly it has a female crown on top of its head.
- The symbol of the double-Cobras was typically used to represent female queens in Egypt as was the falcon.
- The flower located at the bottom of the seal which could either be a lotus or rose, was a common image associated with Egyptian queens (see also 2 Kings 9:30 and Song of Solomon 2:1).
The wording
However, what clinched it for Korpel was the Hebrew inscription “Yzbl.” The seal was damaged and this made it difficult to determine what the full name was which resulted in earlier uncertainty. Korpel who has extensive experience in reconstructing damaged text showed that by adding two Hebrew letters to the damaged part of seal the inscription that indicate Jezebel was the owner of the seal. According to Korpel, the "inscription (l')yzbl means: belongs to Jezebel."2
Jezebel seizes control
In its news release announcing the seal, the University of Utrecht stated:
“The Bible portrays Queen Jezebel as a woman who, in the background, exerted enormous influence, including on her husband (1 Kings 21:25). She sees the opportunity to bend the country's affairs to her will by devious means, including using her husband's seal (1 Kings 21:8) to forge letters. Nonetheless, she now appears to have possessed her own seal, which enabled her to deal with matters independently of Ahab. Eventually, Jezebel came to a bad end. The prophets of Israel accused her of prostitution, murder, idolatry and sorcery. She is made to suffer a horrific death.”
This seal reveals that by the end of her reign, Jezebel had essentially usurped Ahab’s authority. We have an interesting account in 1 Kings 21 that sets the groundwork for Jezebel’s eventual power grab.
Beside Ahab’s palace in Jezreel was a vineyard belonging to a man named Naboth (1 Kings 21). Obviously, Ahab saw it every day as he passed in and out of his palace and the more he saw it, the more he wanted it.
The king finally approached Naboth asking him he would be willing to exchange his property for a better one that the king owned or take the equivalent in money. Ahab offered Naboth a deal that he couldn’t refuse. But the farmer refused.
“The Lord forbid,” he said (v 3), “that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, each family received a portion of land as their inheritance into perpetuity. God forbid them from selling the land to anyone else (Lev 25:23-28), thus ensuring that future generations would not be forced into poverty. It also drove home the notion that this was God’s land and they were simply lessees.
Ahab didn’t handle the rejection very well. He was depressed, refused to eat and mopped around the palace like a little child. When Jezebel eventually found Ahab, he was lying on his bed facing the wall (v 9). She asked him what had happened
After Ahab told his wife about Naboth’s refusal to sell, Jezebel said, “Arise be joyful, I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
In their respected commentary on the Old Testament, C. F. Kiel and F. Delitzsch state that due to the word order in 1 Kings 21:7, this verse is more accurately translated, “I (if thou hast not courage enough to act) will procure thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
At that point, Jezebel sent a letter to the elders and nobles in the city where Naboth lived commanding them to find two individuals who would accuse the farmer of cursing God and the King. The two men delivered their murderous words, and the elders ordered Naboth to be stoned. With the owner gone, Jezebel told the king to take the land. Who could stop him now?
In the brief moments it took to write the letter, Jezebel seized control of Israel in four critical areas.
Jezebel seizes marital control
In this incident, we see that the relationship between Ahab and Jezebel had degenerated from one of a husband and wife to that of a mother looking after her child. This was largely due to the fact that Ahab had abdicated his God-given role as leader of the family. As Ahab lay on his head pouting, facing the wall like a five-year old child, Jezebel stepped in like his mother vowing to make things better.
Jezebel seizes political control
The second thing Jezebel did was seize political control. She sent the letter to the elders in Ahab’s name using the Royal seal. The seal was probably a signet ring with an image on it that was superimposed onto a letter and other Royal documents by pressing it into wet clay or wax. Jezebel now had enough control in Israel, she could make decisions in the name of the King and they would be fulfilled. She had stolen the king’s authority. Lower levels of government, in this case the city rulers, intimidated by Jezebel meekly caved into her ostentatious demands.
Jezebel seizes judicial control
The elders at the gates represented the justice system in Israel (Deut 16:18). In this instance, Jezebel manipulated the system using Israel’s law which prescribed the penalty of death for blasphemy (Deut 13:11) and the need for two witnesses to make the accusation stick (Deut 17: 6,7). The justice system was so corrupted by Jezebel, that the judges willingly found false witnesses to ensure that the verdict would have the appearance of legality.
Many times, when we are praying for our county, we must remember to pray for our justice system, which can bring down verdicts that impact the spiritual nature of a nation – positively and negatively.
This is particularly important in both Canada and the US, where many contend that activist, unelected judges are taking control away from our elected officials. A recent report by the Fraser Institute, a Canadian public policy organization, states that Canada’s Supreme Court is moving away from making sure that people obey the law to changing laws. This is a concern, since the Supreme Court represents the views of a handful of people versus the views of our hundreds of duly elected representatives and the millions of people who voted for them.
Jezebel seizes spiritual control
Finally, in her letter to the elders and nobles of the city, Jezebel ordered these leaders to proclaim a city-wide fast. These fasts were calls to repentance – in this instance over Naboth’s supposed blasphemy. These calls were normally made by the prophets (see 1 Sam 7:6). By her actions, we see that Jezebel had seized spiritual and prophetic control of the nation. On the outside, this call to repentance appeared so spiritual, but it covered up a horrendous blackness.
Creating her own seal was simply the final stage of Jezebel's power play. The seal which is located in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem will go on public display in 2010.
1. Dutch researcher claims to confirm Jezebel’s seal by Cnaan Liphshiz (Haaretz.com: October 23, 2007)
2. Ancient Seal belonged to Queen Jezebel (Utrecht University: www.uu.nl October 15, 2007
Source: Scholar claims ancient seal was Queen Jezebel’s by Etgar Lefkovits (The Jerusalem Post: October 23, 2007) / Dutch researcher claims to confirm Jezebel’s seal by Cnaan Liphshiz (Haaretz.com: October 23, 2007) / Dutch scholar traces ancient seal to Bible’s Jezebel by Catherine Hornby (Reuters: October 23, 2007) / Ancient Seal belonged to Queen Jezebel (Utrecht University: www.uu.nl October 15, 2007)
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half of this stuff in here i never even thought of before or havent noticed in the Bible. The reason I visited this particular website was for an English project I have. All I have to say is, YOU'RE A LIFE SAVER!! thank you for your better understanding on my subject, Jezebel. 
