The assemblage of fine gold jewelry. Photo Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority
For the first time, ancient jewelry uncovered by Israeli archeologists 50 years ago will now be made available to the public, just in time for the Passover holiday. What is described as “impressive” items of gold jewelry, discovered in past excavations in burial caves in Jerusalem, will be exhibited to the public for the first time, at the 48th Archaeological Congress organized by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Exploration Society and the Israel Archaeological Association.
Already this year, a 4,000-year-old ostrich egg was discovered in the Negev, elements of ancient Jerusalem’s fortifications and a mysterious hand imprint carved in a rock dating back to the tenth century were uncovered in another IAA project, a Byzantine-era church dating back to the 6th Century was uncovered in Jericho, and an Israeli teenager, a volunteer, uncovered a rare gold bead from the end of the Roman era while taking part in the sifting project at the Archaeological Experience at the Israel Antiquities Authority’s excavation of the Pilgrimage Road in the City of David in Jerusalem.
And just last week, it was revealed that a 6,000-year-old copper fishhook— one of the oldest known in the world—possibly for fishing sharks or very large fish, was discovered in the Israel Antiquity Authority (IAA) excavations.
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The jewelry to be displayed came after new research uncovered the remains of a lead coffin discovered on Mount Scopus, containing jewels including gold earrings, a hairpin, a gold pendant and gold beads, carnelian beads and a glass bead.
The jewels were discovered in 1971, in an excavation carried out by Yael Adler (deceased) of the Israel Department of Antiquities but the finds were not published. The jewels were recently located in the context of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s “Publication of Past Excavations Project”, whereby old excavations that were not fully published are now being published. “The location of the original reports that gathered dust over the years in the Israel Antiquities Authority archives, and physically tracing the whereabouts of the items themselves, has shed light on long-forgotten treasures,” says Dr. Ayelet Dayan, Head of the Archaeological Research Department, who heads this project. “The beautiful jewelry that we researched is an example of such treasures.”
Dr. Ayelet Dayan, Ayelet Gruber and Dr. Yuval Baruch of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who carried out the research on the jewelry, consider that the very valuable items that bear the symbols of Luna, the Roman moon goddess, also accompanied the girls in their lifetime, and after they died, they were buried with them in order to continue to protect them in the afterlife.
According to their research, two similar gold earrings were discovered in another excavation carried out by Prof. Vassilios Tzaferis on behalf of the Department of Antiquities on the Mount of Olives in 1975.
According to Eli Escusido, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority: “The interring of the jewelry together with the young girl is touching. One can imagine that their parents or relatives parted from the girl, either adorned with the jewelry, or possibly lying by her side, and thinking of the protection that the jewelry provided in the world to come. This is a very human situation, and all can identify with the need to protect one’s offspring, whatever the culture or the period.”
