The weapon is inscribed in Greek and was probably used against the Hasmoneans during the Hanukkah-related rebellion.
Israel's Ephorate of Antiquities on Thursday unveiled a lead sling projectile from the Hellenistic period bearing a Greek inscription vowing victory in battle and possibly linked to the Hanukkah story.
According to Israeli media, the 2,200-year-old projectile is 4.4 centimeters long. It was excavated in the city of Giavne (s.s. in Greco-Roman times, it was known as Iamnia) and bears the inscription "Victory of Hercules and Aaron", in a possible attempt to intimidate the enemy.
"It is not unlikely that the projectile is related to the conflict between the Greeks and the Hasmoneans," said Pablo Betzer and Dr. Daniel Varga, the directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Betzer said projectiles like this "provide concrete evidence that a huge battle took place here (in Yavneh) during this period". The city was an ally of the Greeks at the time of the Hasmonean rebellion in the 2nd century BC. against the rule of the Seleucid empire ruled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The result of Antiochus' oppressive Hellenistic policy was the outbreak of the Maccabean revolution, which would lead after hard struggles to the independence of Judea.
The researchers, however, pointed out that it is not known exactly in what context the sling was used and that there was no conclusive evidence that it belonged to a Greek soldier of the Hellenistic period.
According to Professor Yulia Ustinova of Ben-Gurion University who deciphered the inscription, "the pair of deities Hauron (s.s. deity of the Canaanites) and Heracles were considered the divine protectors of Yavne during the Hellenistic period. The inscription on a sling bullet is the first archaeological evidence of the two protectors of the city. Until today, the couple was only known from an inscription on the Greek island of Delos."
"Lead sling projectiles are known in the ancient world, beginning in the fifth century BC, but few individual sling projectiles containing inscriptions have been found in Israel. The inscriptions convey a rallying message for warriors aimed at raising their morale, scaring the enemy, or a call intended to magically activate the sling orb itself," said Ustinova.
The custom of inscribing messages or slogans on ammunition has survived to the present day. During World War II, American troops painted "Happy Holidays" on the bombs they dropped on German targets. In 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center, US troops wrote messages on bombs intended for Osama Bin Laden.
