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(Image credit: Eliyahu Yanai, City of David)
Archaeologists in Israel have actually found a 2,300-year-old gold ring set with a red gems– most likely a garnet– that a child might have ritually buried as they left youth and transitioned into their adult years.
The little ring dates to the Hellenistic, or Greek, duration, and was discovered in the City of David in the Jerusalem Walls National Park. This is the 2nd gold ring from the early Hellenistic duration that archaeologists have actually discovered there in less than a year.
“This jewelry discovered now was likely buried then in the context of a well-known practice of that period, which symbolized the transition from childhood to adulthood,” scientists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA )and Tel Aviv University stated in a declaration.
Archaeologists discovered the ring throughout a regular dig.
“We sifted the dirt through a sieve, right near the excavation area, and suddenly Ben, who works with me, pulls a gold ring out of the dirt,” Rivka Lengler, a City of David excavator, stated in the declaration. “At first, he was sure it must be a modern item dropped by one of our excavators, but when I examined the ring, I immediately assessed it as something ancient.”
Related: Ancient ‘hangover avoidance’ ring discovered in Israel
The historical layer in which the ring was discovered dates to the late 3rd or early 2nd century B.C., likewise referred to as the Second Temple duration, which lasted while the Second Temple stood in Jerusalem from about 516 B.C. to A.D. 70, when the Romans ruined it. This layer has actually yielded other important artifacts, consisting of bronze earrings, a gold earring with a representation of a horned animal, and an embellished gold bead.
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The newly found ring(bottom)and a comparable ring that was discovered at the very same historical site previously this year. (Image credit: Yiftah Shalev, Israel Antiquities Authority)
The newly found ring was discovered in the structures of a big structure, recommending that whoever lived there was rich, the scientists stated in the declaration. And the reality that t numerous valuable artifacts have actually been discovered in the location recommends that whoever buried them might have been following a customized.
“That the two small rings and the rest of the jewelry were all discovered under the building’s floors raises the possibility that they were buried there on purpose,” Marion Zindel, an archaeologist with the IAA who examined the ring, stated in the declaration.
The ring might have been buried as part of a coming-of-age routine, which was a “well-known Hellenistic period custom,” she stated. “Betrothed women would bury jewelry and other childhood objects in the house foundations as a symbol of the transition from childhood to adulthood,” Zindel discussed.
The ring’s gems likewise suits patterns from that time.
“Jewelry that combines gold with brightly colored precious stones, such as the garnet stone, were well-known from this period, in which fashion was influenced by Eastern countries such as India and Persia,” the scientists stated in the declaration. “These fashionable influences were enabled thanks to Alexander the Great‘s conquests, and the consequent trade channels opening with these regions.”
This is far from the only Hellenistic finding in Israel connected to Alexander the Great. In 2023, archaeologists revealed they had actually discovered the roadside burial of a Greek courtesan who had actually been buried with an elaborate bronze mirrorScientists think this female was accompanying the Macedonian king’s armies when she passed away 2,300 years earlier.
Laura is the archaeology and Life’s Little Mysteries editor at Live Science. She likewise reports on basic science, consisting of paleontology. Her work has actually appeared in The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a website on autism research study. She has actually won several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly paper near Seattle. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s degree in science composing from NYU.
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