Israeli archaeologists in Jerusalem said yesterday they found the imprint of a seal that belonged to an 6th century BC official in the court of the last king of Judah who was mentioned in the Old Testament.

We found the imprint in clay, remarkably well preserved, of a seal with the name of Gedaliah the son of Pashur," Eilat Mazar, who leads the team of archaeologists, said.

Gedaliah is mentioned in the Bible as among the ministers in the court of King Zedekiah who called for Prophet Jeremiah to be put to death for urging Jerusalem residents to surrender to the city's Babylonian attackers.

It is the second such bulla-a lump of clay stamped with a seal-found at the site in Jerusalem. A similar one was found nearby in 2005.