Tel Hazor is an archaeological site located in the Upper Galilee, north of the Sea of Galilee, on the northern Korazim plateau. From the Middle Bronze Age, around 1750 BC. C., until the Iron Age, in the XNUMXth century BC. C., Hazor was the largest fortified city in the region.
It maintained commercial links with Babylon and Syria, and imported large quantities of tin for the bronze industry.
In 2022, a group of archaeologists found a seal at the site that could be the key to a new connection established between Hercules and northern Israel. The seal has a hero facing a seven-headed serpent.
According to a study led by Christoph Uehlinger of the University of Zurich, the seal reflects the complexity of visual culture and the transmission of Levantine myths. Additionally, Uehlinger considers that it could be representing the Greek myth of the Twelve Labors of Hercules, specifically the battle against the Hydra of Lerna.
The study highlights that, although the seal does not clearly reveal the identity of the hero depicted, the presence of a wide belt suggests that it could be a male warrior, a typical characteristic of the iconography of the time.
The seal is an example of the influence and spread of the Mesopotamian tradition in northern Syria and Israel.