Editor’s Note
A remarkable Roman-era gold jewelry trove, unearthed in a Jerusalem burial cave in 1971 but never published, will be revealed to the Israeli public for the first time this Monday.
Gold jewelry from the Roman era discovered in a burial cave in Jerusalem will be presented to the Israeli public for the first time this Monday. The discovery was made in 1971 during archaeological excavations led by the Israel Antiquities Authority, but the findings had never been published. The remains of a lead coffin were thus discovered on Mount Scopus, along with “jewelry, including gold earrings, a hairpin, a gold pendant, gold beads, carnelian beads, and a glass bead,” the Israel Antiquities Authority stated.
Dafna Gazit/Israel Antiquities Authority
The study revealed that the gold jewelry was worn by young girls as amulets against the evil eye nearly 1,800 years ago. These remarkable objects, bearing the symbols of Luna, the Roman goddess of the moon, were buried with the young girls to continue protecting them in the afterlife.
The objects will be presented for the first time at the 48th archaeological congress organized by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Exploration Society, and the Israel Archaeological Association. The congress will take place at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem.
