An archaeological find at Khirbet Summeily, a dig site just east of Gaza, Israel, provides solid evidence about the Biblical stories of King David and King Solomon.
The find involves clay seals which are also known as "bullae". These were used to stamp official documents thousands of years ago.
The archaeological find is important because it proves certain Biblical critics wrong - namely those who claim the Bible stories about the time of the two famous kings are inaccurate. These sceptics say the time period of King David and King Solomon weren't adequately advanced to have an organized state.
Jimmy Hardin, a professor at Mississippi State University's Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, states that the finding of the six clay seals "lends general support to the historical veracity of David and Solomon as recorded in the Hebrew Bible texts."
Hardin's conclusions were published in the December 2014 issue of Near Eastern Archaeology. In his article he states that the material culture of the site displays "a level of political-economic activity that has not been suspected recently" during the time period.
"Some text scholars and archaeologists have dismissed the historic reliability of the biblical text surrounding kings David and Solomon, such as recorded in the Bible in the books of Kings and Second Samuel," Hardin added.
"The fact that these bullae came off of sealed written documents shows that this site – located out on the periphery of pretty much everything – is integrated at a level far beyond subsistence," he said. "You have either political or administrative activities going on at a level well beyond those typical of a rural farmstead."
The clay seals do not contain any writing. These are the sole bullae known to exist from the 10th century.