Bulla Bulls____

The find of King Hizkiyahu's bulla seal, of course, brought this out:

...But Robert Cargill, an archeologist at the University of Iowa, told me that the claims about biblical proof are overstated. “If this is a legitimate object, then it simply confirms the existence of a king named Hezekiah in Jerusalem.” That, Cargill added, is something scholars already knew from other archeological discoveries....archeologists like Cargill are more skeptical both about the evidence itself and the potential agenda of the find. The significance of the discovery hinges on the claim that it was uncovered in its original archeological context, but the area in which it was unearthed is politically contested and archeologically compromised. The material is being sifted from piles of dirt removed as part of Palestinian construction in the area [??? there is none!]. As such, Cargill said, “there’s no reason to believe that it is a forged object. The problem lies in the compromised archeological stratigraphy at the point of discovery.”

Cargill, you just knew, is pro-Pal. leaning.  Here.  And here, for example.

In case that wasn't clear enough, the reporter adds:

Discovering evidence of Jewish presence around the temple is a politically sensitive task. On one hand it is important to excavate the cultural heritage of Jews in Jerusalem; on the other the excavations are taking place on the Ophel, close to the city of Silwan, almost [across the street] beneath the homes of the Palestinians who live there. Significant archeological discoveries in Silwan can and have been used to undermine the literal and metaphorical foundations of Palestinian claims to the area [and it does since science trumps myth-making]   As a result, Palestinian authorities often dismiss discoveries in the region as forgeries.

So much bull over a bulla.

^