SEAL. There seem to have been two kinds of seals in use among the Hebrews. A notion appears to exist that all ancient seals, being signets, were rings, intended to be worn on the hand. But this was by no means the case ; nor is it so now in the East, where signet-rings are still, probably, as common as they ever were in ancient times. Their general use of seals was very different from ours, as they were employed not for the purpose of im pressing a device on wax, but in the place of a sig-n manual, to stamp the name of the owner upon any document to which Ile desired to affix it. The name thus impressed had the same legal validity as the actual signature, as is still the case in the East. This practice may be illustrated by a cir cumstance which occurred in the last days of George IV. 'When he becatne too ill to affuc his sign-manual to the numerous documents which re quired it, a fac-simile was engraved on a stamp, by which it was in his presence impressed upon them. By this contrivance any one may give to any paper the legal sanction of his name, although he may be unable to write ; and the awkward contrivance to which we resort in such cases, of affixing a cross or mark with the signature of an attesting witness, is unnecessary. For this purpose the surface of the seal is smeared with a black pigment, which leaves the fig-ure of the body of the seal upon the paper, in which the characters appear blank or white. The characters required are often too large or too many to be conveniently used in a signet-ring, in which case they are engraved on a seal shaped not unlike those in use among ourselves, which is carried in the bosom, or suspended from the neck over the breast. This custom was ancient, and, no doubt, existed among the Hebrews (Gen. xxxviii. 18 ; Cant. viii. 6 ; Haggai ii. 23). These seals are often entirely of metal—brass, silver, or gold ; but sometimes of stone set in metal. As an appen dage thus shaped might be inconvenient from the pressure of its edges, the engraved stone was some times made to turn in its metal frame, like our swivel seals, so as to present a flat surface to the body. Very ancient Egyptian seals of this kind
have been found.
If a door or box was to be sealed, it was first fastened with some ligament, over which was placed some well-compacted clay to receive the impression of the seal. Clay was used because it hardens in the heat which would dissolve wax ; and this is the reason that wax is not used in the East. A person leaving property in the custody of strangers—say in one of the cells of a caravan serai—seals the door to prevent the place from being entered without legal proof of the fact. The simplicity of the Eastern locks, and the ease with which they might be picked, render this precaution the more necessary. We have sometimes seen a coarsely-engraved and large wooden seal employed for this purpose. There are distinct allusions to this custom in Job xxxviii. 14; Cant. iv. 12.
Signet-rings were very common, especially among persons of rank. They were sometimes wholly of metal, but often the inscription was borne by a stone set in silver or gold. The im pression from the signet-ring of a monarch gave the force of a royal decree to any instrument to which it was affixed. Hence the delivery or transfer of it to any one gave the power of using the royal name, and created the highest office in the state (Gen. xli. 42 ; Esth. to, 12 ; viii. 2 ; Jer. xxii. 24 ; Dan. vi. 13, 17 : comp. Kings xxi. 8). Rings being so much employed as seals, were called nlyzu tabbaoth ; which is derived from a root signifying to imprint, and also to seal, They were commonly WOM as ornaments on the fingers —usually on the little finger of the right hand (Exod. XXXV. 22 ; Luke XV. 22 ; James ii. 2).— J. K.