SuperInteresting Ancient Judaea Lead Bulla Menorah / Olive Branch! J. Hyrcanus?

Description

Here we have a "new to the collecting World" Lead Bulla, depicting a Menorah on one side and an Olive Tree branch (with Olives) over an inscription on the other! No one has ever seen this inscription before, so here goes: the Menorah as a symbol is thousands of years old. The Olive Tree branch with Menorah appear in the Bible's Book of Zecharia 4:1-3 and 10-14, where he recounts a dream he had about a Menorah flanked by olive tree branches! The shape of the branch is very similar to the Lulav, which was depicted on Prutah by the early Kings. The inscription under the branch is J / r Y h, which would appear to be, in Latin, J(ohn) / Hyr(canus) I! Why the "Y" is larger than the two letters either side of it is open to speculation... You can see how the recipient twisted the seal to break the cord-and there is a remnant of that cord enmeshed into one of the edge's hollows! The Menorah apperas to be much coarser than what is normally seen on 4th-7th century seals, and is probably MUCH earlier. Our guess is that the seal was attached to a vial of Consecrated Holy Oil, for the lighting the Menorah! It's in As Found condition, and is 14mm at the widest. Rare! Shipping: .50