© THE ISRAEL MUSEUM, JERUSALEM

IMPERIAL ICONOGRAPHY. On display at the Israel Museum are two seal impressions (bullae) from the late seventh century B.C.E. (one pictured here), which have allowed us to reconstruct what the seal that created them looked like. In this scene, two figures appear, one of which stands above title śar ha‘ir, meaning “commander of the fortress.” Here, the definite article (“the”) is present. The royal figure (left) hands a composite bow and three arrows to the commander (right)—indicating that the king appointed those to the commander of the fortress’s position.