Tel El-Daba’s Cuneiform Seal Impressions

It was found inside a pit that cuts into layers of the Late Period in Tel El-Daba, which is an archaeological site in al-Sharkeya Governorate, 120 km north-east of Cairo.

The seal impression bears the name of a top governmental official who lived during the old Babylonian Era during the reign of King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), and is the second cuneiform seal impression of this type to be found in the area, yet the oldest to be found in Egypt.

The first one was unearthed in 2008 inside the well of the palace of the Hyksos King Khayan (1653-1614 BC).

They are dated to 150 years before the cuneiform correspondence found in the capital of Akhenaten - at Tel El-Amarna in the Nile Valley - and are evidence that the Hyksos had foreign relations and extensive connections in the Near East that at this time reached southern Mesopotamia.

Excavations by the Austrian Archaeological mission have been ongoing at Tel El-Daba since 2006 when they found a palace dating to the middle of the Hyksos reign (1664-1565 BC). Inside it they unearthed a number of seals of a well known Hyksos king.

The mission also found an old house with several rooms and yards along with a collection of round containers, animal bones and glasses.

The remains of a 5th Dynasty edifice were also found for the first time in this area, which houses a number of rooms, halls and yards that may have been used for administrative purposes.