Scholar E. P. Sanders states that possibly the temple officials “authorized reliable sellers of sacrificial victims to sell only animals and birds that priests had previously inspected. In this case, the seller would have to give the buyer some kind of chit, indicating that the victim was unblemished.”

In 2011, archaeologists found just such a chit, or token, in the vicinity of the temple​—a coin-size clay seal dating from between the first century B.C.E. and 70 C.E. Its two-word Aramaic inscription has been rendered “Pure for God.” It is thought that temple officials would have attached such tokens to products for ritual use or to animals intended for sacrifice.