A stone seal from the 11th century BC, possibly depicting a man fighting a lion, was discovered at the site of Beth Shemesh in 2012. The archaeologists who excavate the site have suggested identifying the scene on the seal with the story of a man fighting a lion; they claim that this story or legend eventually found its way into the text of the Bible and the Samson story rather than the Samson story being the original source. The seal is approximately 1.5 cm in diameter and depicts what appears to be a long haired man standing next to (perhaps punching or touching) a four legged animal with a feline tail which even seems to have a tassel at the tip (unique to lions) and a head that appears to have some type of pointed ears like a feline. Because lions are known from historical records and ancient artwork to have inhabited the Levant in antiquity, identifying the animal figure with a lion is plausible.
Beth Shemesh, or “House of the Sun,” is located about 19 miles (30 km) west of Jerusalem in the Sorek Valley and near the ancient border between the Israelites and Philistines in the Iron Age. According to the book of Judges, Samson was born, lived part of his life, and was buried in the area across the valley from Beth Shemesh (Judges 13:2, 25; 16:31). Further, the story of Samson fighting and killing a lion (Judges 14:5-6) is recorded as having occurred on the way from his family home to Timnah–a site identified as Tel Batash and located only a few miles from Beth Shemesh.
The story in which Samson fights a lion falls somewhere around the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 11th century BC, according to the chronology derived from various books of the Bible and synchronisms with ancient Near Eastern king lists. The seal, found in a layer dated to the 11th century BC, comes from a time soon after these events in Samson’s life. The seal was discovered in the area not only where Samson lived much of his life, but also near where the fight with the lion occurred, suggesting that the story was known in the area not long after the events occurred. The actual depiction on the seal may even closely match a number of details the Samson account. In the book of Judges, Samson is supposed to have long hair due to a lifelong Nazarite vow (Judges 13:5; 16:17). On the seal, the human figure has long hair and possibly a beard (although it is difficult to be completely sure). In the encounter with the lion, the lion is said to be young (Judges 14:5). On the seal, in addition to the tail tassel unique to lions, the feline has pointed ears but no mane, which would match the appearance of a young lion. Finally, in the fight with the lion, Samson used his bare hands to kill the lion because he had no weapon (Judges 14:6). On the seal, the arm of the man is visibly outstretched towards the head of the animal as if punching or about to grab, but there is no weapon or implement in his hand. Thus, the geography, chronology, and depictions on the seal all closely match the Samson and the lion encounter recorded in Judges 14, suggesting that the seal may have been made to depict or commemorate the event in the book of Judges. Although the identification is tentative, it is a possibility that the scene on the seal is early evidence for the knowledge of the Samson story in ancient Israel.