The present excavation project at Tell Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir) was started in 1973 by the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University and the Israel Exploration Society with the support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in New York, the Wolfson Foundation in London, and other public bodies. One of the three selected areas was the complex Judean city gate (Area G), which is still being excavated under the supervision of Y. Eshel. So far, efforts have been concentrated on uncovering the left, northern half of the inner gatehouse of (J. L. Starkey's) Level III. The inner gatehouse consists of six chambers, three on each side, and seems to be larger in size than similar gates at other sites. The gatehouse was totally destroyed by fire. The excavation of this area produced two royal Judean storage jars, Type 484 according to Olga Tufnell's division (1953: 315-16), which form the starting point of our discussion. The first storage jar was discovered in 1974 in a room (Locus 4014) which apparently served as a storeroom, situated behind and adjacent to the Level III gate. The room produced much pottery, mainly storage jars, all of which were crushed when the gatehouse was destroyed. Our storage jar, no. 10074, was badly damaged by the conflagration but it could be reconstructed (fig. 1) and is now exhibited in the Israel Museum (no. 75-244). The storage jar has two handles positioned adjacent to each other with royal stamps of the two-winged type (Diringer's Class III). The third handle carries a private stamp, while the fourth handle is plain (fig. 2). The handles have a protruding central rib along which the royal stamps were impressed, but in a very careless manner. As a result, the symbol is quite clear but the inscription above and below the symbol is missing. The private stamp is round, ca. 11 mm. in diameter, and a central dividing line which separates the two lines of the inscription can clearly be distinguished. The rest is blurred. Remains of letters can be discerned, but the reading is doubtful and obscure.