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• חוֹתָם
• חֹתֶמֶת
• טַבַּעַת
•   (only first 3 shown)

is the rendering in the A.V. of חוֹתָם, chotham (Genesis 38:18; Exodus 28:11; Exodus 28:21; Exodus 28:36; Exodus 39:6; Exodus 39:14; Exodus 39:30; Jeremiah 22:24; Haggai 2:23), or חֹתֶמֵת,. chothemeth (femrn. of the same, only in Genesis 38:25), a seal, as elsewhere rendered; and of the Chald. עזְקָא, izkd, the same (Daniel 6:17 [18]); both so called from being engraved; also of σφραγίς, Tob. i, 22; Sirach 17:22; Sirach 32:6; Sirach 49:11; Bel 11; 1 Maccabees 6:15, a seal, as elsewhere rendered.

The importance attached to seals in the East is so great that without one no document is regarded as authentic (Layard, Nin. and Bab. p. 608; Chardin, Voyages, v, 454). The use of some method of sealing is obviously, therefore, of remote antiquity. Among.such .methods used in Egypt at a very early period were engraved stones, pierced through their length and hung by a string or chain from the arm or neck, or set in rings for the finger. The most ancient form used for this purpose was the scarabmaus, formed of precious or common stone, or, even of blue pottery or porcelain, on the flat side of which the inscription or device was engraved. Cylinders of stone or pottery bearing devices were also used as signets. One in the Alnwick Museum bears the date of Osirtasen I, or between 2000 and 3000 B.C. Besides finger-rings, the Egyptians, and. also the Assyrians and Babylonians, made use of cylinders of precious .stone or terra-cotta, which were probably set in a frame and rolled over the document which was to be sealed. The document, especially among the two latter nations, was itself often made of baked clay, sealed while it was wet and burned afterwards. But in many cases the seal Consisted of a lump of clay, impressed with the. seal and attached to the document, whether of papyrus or other material, by strings. These clay lumps often bear the impress of the finger, and also the remains of the strings by which: they were fastened. One such found at Nimrfiud was the seal of Sabaco, king of Egypt, B.C. 711, and another is believed by Mr. Layard to have been the seal of Sennacherib, of nearly the same date (Birch, Hist. of Pottery, i, 101, 118; Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. ii) 341, 364; Layard, Nin. and Bab. p. 154-160). In a somewhat similar manner doors of tombs or other places intended to be closed were sealed with lumps of clay. The custom prevalent among the Babylonians of carrying seals is mentioned by Herodotus, i, 195, who also notices the seals on tombs, ii, 121; Wilkinson. i, 15; ii, 364; Matthew 27:66; Daniel 6:17. The use of clay in sealing is noticed in the book of Job 38:14, and the signet-ring as an ordinary part of a man's equipment in the case of Judah (Genesis 38:18), who probably, like many modern Arabs, wore it suspended by a string from his neck or arm. (See Song of Solomon 8:6; Gesenius, p. 538, 1140; Robinson, i, 36; Niebuhr, Descr. de l'Arab. p. 90; Chardin, loc. cit.; Olearius, Travels, p. 317; Knobel, on Genesis 38, in Exeg. Handb.) The ring or the seal as an emblem of authority, in Egypt, Persia, and elsewhere, is mentioned in the cases of Pharaoh with Joseph, Genesis 41:42; of Ahab. 1 Kings 21:8; of Ahasuerus, Esther 3:10; Esther 3:12; Esther 8:2; of Darius, Dan. loc. cit.; also 1 Maccabees 6:15; Josephus, Ant. 20:2,2; Herodotus, iii, 128; Curtius, iii, 6, 7; 10:5, 4; Sarndys, Travels, p. 62; Chardin, ii, 291; v, 451, 462; and as an evidence of a covenant in Jeremiah 32:10; Nehemiah 9:38; Nehemiah 10:1, Haggai 2:23. Its general importance is denoted by the metaphorical use of the word (Revelation 5:1; Revelation 9:4). Rings with seals are mentioned in the Mishna (Shabb. 6:3), and earth or clay as used for seals of bags (viii, 5). Seals of four sorts, used in the Temple, as well as special guardians of them, are mentioned in Shekal. v, 1.

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