October 7th, 2009 General Meeting

Post date: Oct 15, 2009 6:11:22 AM

On October 7th, 2009 our members were presented with an enlightening presentation on Hellenistic Kedesh seals symbols by Mr. Paul Lesperance from the University of Minessota. Mr. Lesperance gave us an early glimpse of his doctorial thiese presentation based upon the same topic.

He explained the influences that trade and local belief systems had determining the style and depictions on the seals themselves and how they had varried from place to place and through out time itself. Some of these sysmbols were religious in nature, others were seen as protective symbols. Others yet were depictions based upon the trade of the person who was using that perticular seal. Either way the seals were a representation of the person for whom the seal was used by. These seals were used as a form of singature to affirm from whom the goods or documents came from.

Mr. Lesperance spoke about a room in a building where the majority of his work entails from that the majority of the seals came from. The reason for their survival all of these years was due to the fact that the room that housed them with their documents was set ablaze. The act of torching the room baked the clay seals, hardening them so that they could survive throught out the centuries. The documents that these seals were ment to seal acted as the kindleing that baked them.

It was quiet interesting to see from where the influences on the choices of symbols used came from. It showed trade roots and allies. It showed how ideas passed from one group of people to another.

I hope that in the future Mr. Lesperance will return to show us the conclusions that he derived from these interesting little pieces of clay.