Archaeological digs in the city of Jerusalem result every year in more and more surprising discoveries. One of the most recent is an earring dating from over 2000 years ago that was discovered in the City of David.
After almost a year, the find was presented to the press and gave rise to many questions.
A Greek style earring
The discovered item is made of gold and is in the shape of an animal with horns. At this stage it’s difficult to say whether it belonged to a man or a woman and what was the owner’s religion. However, given the quality of the material it was made from and other characteristics, it’s likely that it belonged to a member of the higher class at the time.
An unusual discovery
The archaeologists probably didn’t expect to find such a jewl in the City of David and definitely not at the level of the Mount of the Temple, at the site of Jerusalem’s Jewish temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70. The discovery has opened up a new debate on the make up of the population of Jerusalem at that time.
Up to now, scientists believed that the city was very conservative and didn’t allow objects from other areas into its territory. For the moment it’s too early to refute this theory but there are many questions unanswered and could guide searches over the next few years.
A very touristic area at the heart of the Israeli-Palensinian conflict
The City of David, where the earring was found, is one of the most visited sites in Israel. It is situated in the Palestinian quarter of Silwan and welcomes more than 500 000 tourists every year including Israelis, educational tours and pilgrims. It’s the ideal place to discover the history of the Israeli people since it was reunited by King David.
A guide isn’t necessary to visit, one just needs to open a bible and be guided by the different accounts. There are many relics to admire in the area. Apart from its immense touristic potential, the City of David is also the historic site that has had the most archaeological digs in the Holy Land.
Since the 1900s, there have been 17 campagnes most of which have beenfinanced by the Elad association. Mostly made up of American Jews, Israeli public and private enterprises, its aim is to increase the Jewish presence in the Eastern part of Jerusalem which officially belongs to Palestine. Officially, it justifies its presence because the touristic complex is situated on the remains of the city that was built by King David.
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