Old is New and New is Old: Jewelry in Times’ Continuum

By now, you all know I love finding parallels between ancient design motifs and our modern sensibilities. Today’s chapter involves the excavation of a child’s gold and garnet ring dating back 2300 years ago at the City of David near Jerusalem’s Western Wall.

According to a group called Israel 21C, “The ring, set with a red gemstone — probably a garnet — was made by hammering thin pre-cut gold leaves onto a metal ring base and reflects the fashion during the Persian and early Hellenistic periods (from the late 4th to early 3rd century BCE) for gold with set stones, rather than decorated gold.” Archaeologists at the site believe that this finding along with a gold earring and a gold bead, tell the story of the early Hellenistic period in Jerusalem (332 – 167 BCE) where society was prosperous enough to think about making jewelry for children. Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalem in 332 BCE and so began the period of Hellenistic Judaism… But I digress.

“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,” notes Professor Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Archaeology.

Here's to heirlooms!

Love and appreciation from the studio,

Diana