2nd gold ring found in City of David sheds light on enigmatic Hellenist era in Jerusalem
The artifacts might have been buried by a young girl on the eve of her wedding, but whether she was Judean, Greek or both remains a mystery
Rossella Tercatin is The Times of Israel's archaeology and religions reporter.
An exquisite gold ring set with a red gemstone, dating back some 2,300 years, has been unearthed beneath the floor of a Hellenistic structure in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the City of David announced Wednesday.
Strikingly similar to another ring discovered in the same spot a year ago, the artifact was found in the Givati Parking Lot excavation in the Jerusalem Walls National Park, only steps away from where the ancient Temple stood at the time. Yet, according to the researchers, whether the owners were wealthy Judaeans, Greek elites, or possibly individuals who straddled both cultures remains a mystery.
“The ring is very representative of the Hellenistic-period fashion,” Dr. Marion Zindel of the Israel Antiquities Authority told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. “When Alexander the Great arrived in the region [in 333 BCE], the Greeks introduced new materials and cultural influences from the East — India and Persia — which revolutionized jewelry styles. Combining gold with colorful gemstones became a hallmark of the era, a trend that persisted well into Byzantine times.”
According to Zindel, the rings might have belonged to a young girl on the verge of marriage.
Both artifacts were found under the floor of what archaeologists believe was an imposing public building. An additional bronze earring was previously uncovered in the same spot, suggesting that the jewelry was not there by chance.
“Gold was very valuable; therefore, it is unlikely that not one but two rings were accidentally dropped during the construction of the floor,” Zindel said. “The fact that additional jewelry was also found suggests that they were buried there on purpose.”
According to the researcher, in light of the small size of both rings, the artifacts probably belonged to a child.
“One hypothesis we are investigating is that the objects were buried as part of a Greek ritual, under which girls would bury objects connected to their childhood on the day before their wedding,” Zindel said.
“A few years ago, archaeologists uncovered a cache beneath the floor of a Hellenistic public building at Tel Kedesh in northern Israel,” she added. “Although it didn’t contain jewelry, the artifacts were clearly linked to the daily life of a young girl.”
The Tel Kedesh cache included a terracotta figurine in the shape of the Greek god Eros, gaming pieces, metal writing tools, and a hairpin. Also in that case, the researchers suggested that it might have been part of a similar pre-wedding ritual.
Hellenistic Jerusalem
According to traditional scholarly chronology, the Hellenistic period began when Alexander the Great conquered Syria and the land of Israel in 333 BCE and lasted until the mid-first century BCE, when Roman rule was established in the region.
The Hellenistic period also encompasses the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled Israel after a successful revolt against the Greek-Seleucid Empire celebrated during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
According to Prof. Yuval Gadot from Tel Aviv University, the excavation director, very little is known about life in Jerusalem in those centuries.
The current dig, which is funded by the right-wing City of David Foundation (known in Hebrew as Elad or Ir David), aims to unearth remains from the period.
“The Hellenistic period is considered a well-documented era, with historical sources available, so we would expect the archaeological record to reflect that,” Prof. Yuval Gadot told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. “But that hasn’t been the case – until our excavation, we knew very little about Jerusalem’s size, character, and development during those centuries.”
“These rings, along with other pieces of jewelry and the architecture we’ve uncovered, are beginning to advance our understanding of the city at that time,” he added.
The current dig has unearthed the remains of what Gadot describes as “an entire neighborhood,” with both public and residential buildings.
The high quality of the walls and floors suggests that Jerusalem at the time was reasonably wealthy.
“We also found several seals, and at least some were not locally made,” Gadot said. “This testifies to the connections between Jerusalem and other areas of the region.”
However, so far, the rings and the other findings from the Givati Parking Lot excavation do not offer answers to the fundamental question about the cultural affiliation of the inhabitants of a neighborhood so close to the Temple.
“We believe the residents had some connection to the Temple,” said Gadot, “but at this stage, we have no clear way of understanding the nature of that relationship.”
“For example, one of the seal impressions we found depicts a woman, possibly the Greek goddess Athena,” he noted. “Given that, according to Jewish law, it is forbidden to make images of human figures, how do we interpret it?”
According to the researchers, it is possible that the residents were Jewish but either unaware of or indifferent to the prohibition or that they were outsiders, perhaps imperial administrators on behalf of the Hellenistic empire.
Some additional answers might come from analysis of animal bones, which offer insights into the diet of the people who consumed them (pork consumption is also prohibited by Jewish law).
“In order to understand more about Jerusalem’s identity in the Hellenistic period, we are going to need more discoveries and research,” said Gadot. “It will take time.”
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