Summary: The discovery of a 2,300-year-old gold ring “paints a new picture of Jerusalem’s inhabitants in the Early Hellenistic Period.”
Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear. – Proverbs 25:12 (ESV)
Ancient Gold Ring From the City of David
A 2,300-year-old gold ring set with a precious stone was recently uncovered during an excavation of the City of David, part of the Jerusalem Walls National Park. The ring is in excellent condition and dates to the Early Hellenistic Period (the time of Greek cultural dominance after about 323 BC).
The discovery of costly jewelry “paints a new picture of the nature and stature of Jerusalem’s inhabitants in the Early Hellenistic Period,” said Tel Aviv University Professor Yuval Gadot. It used to be assumed that Jerusalem was a small town during this era but new finds, including this gold ring, tell a different story. In a wider view, the discovery of the ring and the context surrounding it also speaks to the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
The City of David is the ancient Biblical city’s original center established as Israel’s capital by King David. Today the park is best known for King Hezekiah’s Tunnel, built to bring water into the city ahead of the Assyrian siege led by Sennacherib around 701 BC.
The area is located just outside the southern walls of what today is known as Jerusalem’s Old City. It is considered one of Israel’s most important archaeological sites. The City of David excavation was a joint dig between Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and conducted with support from the Elad Foundation.
“I Found a Ring!”
Tehiya Gangate, a City of David excavation team member, made the thrilling discovery of the special ring while sifting dirt from the dig. “I was sifting earth through the screen and suddenly saw something glitter,” she explained. “I immediately yelled, ‘I found a ring, I found a ring!’”
“Within seconds, everyone gathered around me, and there was great excitement,” she continued. “This is an emotionally moving find, not the kind you find every day. In truth, I always wanted to find gold jewelry, and I am very happy this dream came true – literally a week before I went on maternity leave.”
The ring was most likely worn by a child given its petite size. A beautiful red gemstone is embedded in the center which archaeologists consider is most likely a garnet. The ring has yet to be scientifically analyzed. Being made of gold, a very refined material that ages well, it is extremely well preserved with no rust or weathering.
About the wearer of the ring, IAA excavation directors Dr. Yiftah Shalev and Riki Zalut Har-tov said: “The ring is very small. It would fit a woman’s pinky, or a young girl’s or boy’s finger.”
Meticulous Crafting of the Ring
Stylistically, the design of the ring reflects the common fashion of the Persian and Early Hellenistic periods, dating from the late 4th to early 3rd century BC and onwards. During this time, preference for gold jewelry with set stones developed rather than decorated or carved gold.
The ring isn’t quite symmetrical and the finishing is less than perfect, but precision fitting is difficult with the technique that was used to make it. Dr. Marion Zindel explained how the ring was crafted by hammering thin pre-cut gold leaves onto a metal ring base that was usually made of bronze or another less expensive metal than gold.
Strip by strip the gold would be meticulously wrapped around the base and carefully hammered on, followed by pressing to achieve the desired ring shape. Only after the gold wrapping was finished would the hole for the stone be cut.
When looking closely at the stone, the joints between the gold sheets are visible, as are tool marks around the stone. “The stone shape needs to be cut after and worked around, which is why it doesn’t fit exactly,” explained Zindel.
Other Gold Items Found
“The recently found gold ring joins other ornaments of the early Hellenistic period found in the City of David excavations, including the horned-animal earring and the decorated gold bead,” said Gadot and excavator Efrat Bocher.
Displaying extremely high quality craftsmanship, a gold bead and hoop earring were also found in the same period and archaeological level as the ring. Both of these items were made using a technique called filigree, in which threads and tiny metal beads are used to create delicate and complex patterns, according to Ariel Polokoff and Dr. Adi Erlich, from the University of Haifa’s Department of Archaeology.
The gold earring is in the shape of a horned animal’s head, possibly an antelope or a deer, with large eyes and a mouth. This type of earring first appeared in Greece during the early Hellenistic period. Similar earrings have been found across the Mediterranean basin, especially in Greece, but are extremely rare in Israel.
“We can say for certain that whoever wore this earring definitely belonged to Jerusalem’s upper class,” the researchers said. “This can be determined by the proximity to the Temple Mount and the Temple, which was functional at the time, as well as the quality of the gold piece of jewelry.”
When comparing the ring to the intricate gold earring and bead, it’s obvious the latter shows better workmanship. “It’s true that this [ring] isn’t state of the art,” said Shalev. “The cuts are not symmetrical and the finishing isn’t accurate, but it’s still a very high-quality jewel,” especially given the embedded stone, which was very popular in early Hellenistic times.
More Elite than Previously Thought
Finished properly or not, the ring, when taken together with the other gold items found in this archaeological layer of the City of David, all indicate that the community in that part of Jerusalem at that time was well off, said Shalev.
Excavations are painting a new and grander picture of Jerusalem inhabitants in the Early Hellenistic Period. “In the past we found only a few structures and finds from this era,” said the researchers. “Thus, most scholars assumed Jerusalem was then a small town, limited to the top of the southeastern slope [City of David] with relatively very few resources.”
These new finds present a whole different picture. “The aggregate of revealed structures now constitutes an entire neighborhood,” the scholars continued. “They attest to both domestic and public buildings, and that the city extended from the hilltop westward.”
“The character of the buildings – and now of course, the gold finds and other discoveries, display the city’s healthy economy and even its elite status. It certainly seems that the city’s residents were open to the widespread Hellenistic style and influences prevalent also in the eastern Mediterranean Basin,” said Gadot.
Hellenization and Biblical Connections
Gold jewelry was well-known and documented in the Hellenistic world, from the reign of Alexander the Great onward. His conquests contributed to the spread and transportation of luxury goods and products. During this time, jewelry decorations were often influenced by mythological figures or significant symbolic events.
The Hellenistic period refers to the area of the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean during the time between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 BC. This was a time when Greek culture spread and flourished.
Alexander was a mighty conqueror from Macedon whose triumph over almost the entire known world resulted in one of the largest empires in ancient history. He only reigned for 13 years, but in that short time he overthrew the entire Persian Empire: Asia Minor, Persia, Egypt and everything in between, including Israel.
Around two centuries earlier, the Persian King Cyrus had issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Israel after their deportation to Babylon. Initially a group of about 50,000 returned, with more following afterward.
According to the Jewish historian Josephus, when Alexander visited Jerusalem around 332 BC, he was greeted by the Jewish people with respect and awe. The Jewish leaders informed him that his kingdom was foretold in the book of Daniel. About 250 years before Alexander began his world conquest, God gave Daniel a glimpse into the future. This message was important to Daniel and his people because God also said that they would return to their land, and He would care for them through the coming turbulent times.
Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that Daniel interpreted as a succession of four “global” empires. The dream included a large statue whose head was “made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay,” (Daniel 2:32-33). Each of these metals is progressively less valuable and represented a different kingdom, the first being Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar’s empire. Looking back through history, the four kingdoms Daniel foresaw were the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman empires.
Daniel also wrote about the future exploits of Alexander himself, where the term “horn” often referred to kings or power in Biblical prophecy (Also see Daniel 11:2-4):
As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes… Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven… And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power. – Daniel 8:5, 8, 21-22
Alexander’s empire was divided between four of his generals after his death in 323 BC, but Hellenism continued to spread. Greek became the universal language, and Greek culture swept to all parts of the divided empire. Later, the Maccabees would rebel against Greek rule and establish the Hasmonean dynasty, which lasted 130 years. In the midst of that period, they ruled an independent Jewish kingdom from 104 to 63 BC. The widespread use of the Greek language would also allow the books of the New Testament to spread rapidly throughout the region.
Conclusion
Researchers believe the latest findings “open a window to what Jerusalem was like during the early Hellenistic period. It seems as though, at the time, the city did not reach farther than the top of the hill in the City of David but then spread slightly to the west into the Tyropoeon Valley.”
“We also learned from this excavation that the residents of this area were not peasants who settled in empty areas on the periphery of the central area, but rather the opposite – they were well-off people. The discovery of familiar Hellenistic pieces of jewelry can teach us about how Hellenistic influences reached Jerusalem during this time.”
“The excavation in ancient Jerusalem reveals invaluable information to us about our past,” said IAA head Eli Escusido. Though perhaps not on the minds of the archaeologists, evidence of Greek influence also testifies to the truth of Daniel’s prophecy. The gold ring was displayed for the public for the first time during the free “Jerusalem Mysteries” conference hosted by the IAA on June 5th in honor of Jerusalem Day.
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TOP PHOTO: The 2,300-year-old gold ring found in Jerusalem by the IAA. (credit: Asaf Peri/City of David)
