The Cylinder Seal of Yosep from Avaris (Goshen)
Michael Shelomo Bar-Ron
https://www.academia.edu/355321The_Seal_of_Joseph_in_His_Palace_at_Tell_Ed_Daba_Re_edited_
This interpretation of the Avaris seal is cogent, and superior to the view that finds West Semitic deities, rather than Yosep son of Ya`qob and his brothers, symbolized in accordance with the characteristics attributed to them and their tribes in the Blessing of Ya`qob (Genesis 49:1-27) and Blessing of Moshe (Deuteronomy 33:1-25)
When this was first brought to my notice many years ago, I jumped to the conclusion that the Bull was the chief god El, and the armed man was the weather-god Ba`al-Hadad. I now accept the view that these symbols represent Yosep and his brothers, the sons of Ya`qob, and this interpretation is supported by the discovery of nine Ya`qob-Har seals at the same site, in the palace of Avaris, and twelve tombs in the palace garden, one of which is a pyramid, presumably for Yosep.
Here is my interpretation, based on the Bar-Ron identifications of the characters.
YOSEP (Joseph) The top line starts on the right with Yosep as a powerful bull (as in Deuteronomy 33:13-17), with "horns of the wild ox", pushing the peoples, as depicted here. The two horns could represent his sons and successors, namely EPRAYIM (Ephraim) and MENASSHE (Manasseh), who were granted a special place in the family by Ya`qob (Gen 48:18-20), and they would each have their own tribe; they are indeed associated with Yosep and his bull-horns in the Mosaic Blessing (Deut 33:17). The two objects with hatching may signify the two sons.
BINYAMIN (Benjamin) Next along the upper line is Binyamin, as an armed man wielding his weapons; this should not be YHWH the warrior (Exodus 15;3. "The LORD is a man of war" ) but Binyamin, "a ravenous wolf" who "divides the spoil" (Gen 49:27), and this detail would indicate a military connection for him; and so he is possibly the General BIBI, commander of "Asiatic" troops, attested in the Egyptian inscriptions in the Wadi el-Hol (Darnell et alii 2005:88-89, :102-105); and also the PPY, overseer of the MSh` ("expeditionary force") on Sinai 85, in year 4 of the reign of Amenemhat III, in association with a governor of Lower Egypt named H.ori (possibly Yosep, also known as H.oremh.at). The two mounds or mountains below the strider are possibly Gerizim and Ebal, the twin peaks that embrace the city of Shekem (Shechem, Nablus), and notice the city wall below them. The noun shekem means "shoulder" and in the brief Mosaic blessing on Binyamin there is a mysterious mention of dwelling "between his shoulders" (Deut 33:12).
ASHER Third in the uppermost line is Asher, seen as an olive branch, in line with the promise that his bread would be "fat", presumably dipped in olive oil (Gen 49:20), and this blessed one, and the favoured among his brothers, dips his foot in olive oil (Deut 33:24).
These three brothers (Yosep, Binyamin, Asher) are at the top because they are the favoured ones in the family of Ya`qob, I suggest; and two more brothers have a high (tough lower) position in the scenery.
NAPTALI (Naphtali) is presumed to be the animal below the olive branch of Asher; the image is damaged, but it looks like a diving dolphin. The blessing (Gen 49:21) runs enigmatically: “Naptali is a hind let loose, he gives beautiful utterances”. Bar-Ron suggests that this is a deer or an antelope. The other characterization of him states that he is “satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing of the LORD” (Deut 33:23), and this might explain his relatively high position in the complex.
GAD is deemed to go with the final symbol in the upper realm: its form is incomplete, because of the damage that stretches in both directions over the ship. Bar-Ron proposes an inverted mushroom, representing good fortune descending from Heaven, in line with the name Gad given to him at birth, Gad, "fortune" (Gen 30:10-11). Searching for clues in the two blessings, and presuming that this is a human head with the mushroom hair-style of the Western Semites, we find the blessing of Moshe (Deut 33: 20-22) connects Gad with heads (qodqod, re'shith, ro'sh) and describes him as one who administers law and justice.
ZEBULUN (Zebulon) and YISSAKHAR (Issachar) are linked in the blessing of Moshe (Deut 33: 18-19) as receiving “the affluence of the seas”; and Zebulun is said to dwell “by the shore of the sea”, and be “a haven for ships” (Gen 49:13). Accordingly they would be the two heads in the boat.
DAN is the long snake that seems to be following the ship; in the song of Deborah (Judges 5:17) Dan is connected with ships, and Asher with the coast of the sea; Zebulun and Naptali appear in the next verse (18). Dan is also portrayed as “a serpent in the way”, and “a viper by the path” (Gen 49:17); he is also “a lion’s whelp” (Deut 33:22), and it is noticeable that the lion in this group has his right forearm reaching out to the snake.
Returning now to the column where Yosep the bull is dominant, we see that Yosep is above the unstable Reuben, the vulture Lewi, the lion Yehuda, and the wall Shim`on.
RE’UBEN (Reuben) is symbolized by turbulent waters, beneath the feet of Yosep. He was the eldest son with inheritance privilege, and this is acknowledged at the outset in his father’s blessings (Gen 49:3-4): “You are my first-born, my might, the first-fruits of my strength, pre-eminent in pride and strength”; but he was “unstable as water”, depicted here by rolling waves, and he “would not have pre-eminence”, because he defiled his father’s bed; this refers to his sexual relations with his father’s concubine Bilhah (Gen 35:22), Rahel’s maid, who gave birth to Dan and Naptali (35:25) .
LEWI (Levi) has a tiny symbol, a bird with its tail on the left, hovering over the lion; in Yemeni tradition Lewi was symbolized by a high-flying vulture (Bar-Ron, n. 19, learned this from Yehoshua Sofer Ma`atuf Doh.); this symbol might signify that his tribe would not have their own territory in the promised land, but would be in a position of overseeing society. In the blessings (Gen 49:5-7, Deut 33:8-11) Lewi and his descendants are assigned the sacerdotal and educational roles in Israel, but also the task of striking down rebels (Dt 33:11), as they did at the time of the idolatrous apostasy in the wilderness period (Exodus 32:25-28); and so the sword is a feature of his image (Gen 49:5).
SHIM`ON (Simeon) is not mentioned in the Deuteronomy blessing, and he is associated together with Lewi in the paternal benediction on the twelve sons (Gen 49:5-7); he is castigated for his violence with his sword, alluding to the slaying of the men of Shekem by Shim`on and Lewi (Gen 34:25); and so he is represented by a city wall, in accordance with a tradition (Bamidbar Rabbah, 2:7) that the flag of Shim`on depicted the wall of Shekem. Note that he is in the lowest position of all on the seal.
YEHUDA (Judah) is the recipient of lion imagery in the blessing of Ya`qob (Gen 49:9) and he is obviously the prominent lion in the picture; he is highly praised, and a glorious and victorious future is predicted for him (Gen 49:8-12, Deut 33:7), but at this time he was subordinate to his younger brother Yosep, who was the governor of the land, and his brothers bowed down to him (Gen 42:6).
This interpretation of the Avaris seal is cogent, and superior to the view that finds West Semitic deities, rather than Yosep son of Ya`qob and his brothers, symbolized in accordance with the characteristics attributed to them and their tribes in the Blessing of Ya`qob (Genesis 49:1-27) and the Blessing of Moshe (Deuteronomy 33:1-25)
When this was first brought to my notice many years ago, I jumped to the conclusion that the Bull was the chief god El, and the armed man was the weather-god Ba`al-Hadad. I now accept the view that these symbols represent Yosep and his brothers, the sons of Ya`qob, and this interpretation is supported by the discovery of nine Ya`qob-Har seals at the same site, in the palace of Avaris, and twelve tombs in the palace garden, one of which is a pyramid, presumably for Yosep.
Here is my interpretation, based on the Bar-Ron identifications of the characters.
YOSEP (Joseph) The top line starts on the right with Yosep as a powerful bull (Deut 33:13-17, "bullock" with "horns of the wild ox").
BINYAMIN (Benjamin) Next along the top line is Binyamin, as an armed man wielding his weapons; this could not be YHWH the warrior (Exodus 15;3. "The LORD is a man of war" ) but Binyamin, "a ravenous wolf" who "divides the spoil" (Gen 49:27), and this detail would indicate a military connection for him; and so he is possibly the General BIBI, commander of "Asiatic" troops, attested in the Egyptian inscriptions in the Wadi el-Hol (Darnell et alii, ); and also the PPY, overseer of the MSh` ("expeditionary force") on Sinai 85, in year 4 of the reign of Amenemhat III, in association with a governor of Lower Egypt named H.ori (possibly Yosep, also known as H.oremh.at). The two mounds or mountains below the strider are possibly Gerizim and Ebal, the twin peaks that embrace the city of Shekem (Shechem, Nablus), and notice the city wall below them. The noun shekem means "shoulder" and in the brief Mosaic blessing on Binyamin there is a mysterious mention of dwelling "between his shoulders" (Deut 33:12).
The two objects may be there to signify the sons of Yosep, namely EPRAIM (Ephraim) and MENASSHE (Manasseh), who were granted a special place in the family by Ya`qob (Gen 48:18-20), and they would each have their own tribe.
ASHER Third in the uppermost line is Asher, seen as an olive branch, in line with the promise that his bread would be "fat", presumably dipped in olive oil (Gen 49:20), and this son, blessed as one favoured among his brethren, dips his foot in olive oil (Deut 33:24).
These three brothers (Yosep, Binyamin, Asher) are at the top because they are the favoured ones in the family of Ya`qob, I suggest; and two more brothers have a high (tough lower) position in the scenery.
NAPTALI (Naphtali)
Yosep has the unstable Reuben, the vulture Lewi, and the lion Yehuda below him;
GAD This final symbol is an enigma: its form is incomplete, because of the damage that stretches in both directions over the ship: an arrowhead, or an inverted mushroom (representing good fortune descending from Heaven, in line with the name Gad given to him at birth, Gad, "fortune", Gen 30:10-11). Searching for clues in the two blessings, and presuming that this is a human head with the mushroom hair-style of the Western Semites, we find the blessing of Moshe (Deut 33: 20-22) connects Gad with heads (qodqod, re'shith, ro'sh) and describes him as one who administers law and justice.
See also: https://aish.com/did-archaeologists-discover-an-ancient-seal-of-the-twelve-tribes/
https://www.patternsofevidence.com/2018/09/14/12-tribes-of-israel-on-a-seal-from-egypt/
