Israeli archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old bronze ring with a solitaire gemstone in what appears to be a former ritual bath, or mikveh, in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem, according to reports.
A Jewish penitent likely misplaced the biblical bauble after undergoing a ritual purification before he embarked on a 2,000-foot climb toward the Temple Mount, the Times of Israel reported.
“Just like today, it would appear that in the past, rings and jewelry were removed before bathing,” Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists Nachshon Zenton, Moran Hajabi, Ari Levy and Joe Uziel told the Jerusalem Post.
“This ring allows us to personally connect with an individual’s personal story from 2,000 years ago. The ring, along with other finds, can shed light and expose the lives of people during the Second Temple period,” they said in a statement.
The ancient ring from the Roman period was recently discovered at the City of David’s Sifting Project in Emek HaTsurim, where it was dug out in a bucket of dirt along the road.
“Every step on this street brought the pilgrims closer to the Temple,” Zenton said in a recent video tour of the site. “Imagine to yourselves the joy, the songs, the prayers, the spiritual journey that these people experience when they know they are just meters away from reaching the gates of the Temple.”
The Herodian road from the Pool of Siloam dates to no earlier than 30-31 CE, during the time of the notorious Roman governor Pontius Pilate.
The City of David is considered the place recorded in the Bible in which King David established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel 3,000 years ago.
“It’s incredible to think that this beautiful ring sat at the bottom of a mikveh on the ancient Pilgrimage Road for 2,000 years, until it was uncovered by archaeologists in the City of David,” said Doron Spielman, vice president of the City of David Foundation, which oversees the national park.
“It is yet another piece in the puzzle that is ancient Jerusalem,” he told the Jerusalem Post.