In find of ancient gold earring, echoes of Greek rule over Jerusalem
A gold earring believed to date back more than 2000 years has been unearthed near the site of the ancient Jewish temples in Jerusalem, in what Israeli archaeologists called rare evidence of Hellenistic influence.
The 4 centimetre (1.5 inch)-long filigree hoop with a ram's head mould, shown here, was discovered during excavations outside Jerusalem's walled Old City. The dig is around 200 metres (yards) south of the Temple Mount, which today houses al Aqsa mosque and is known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
The Israel Antiquities Authority said the trinket's crafting was consistent with jewellery from the early Hellenistic period - the 3rd or early 2nd-century BCE, roughly between Jerusalem's conquest by Alexander the Great and the Jewish revolt against pagan rule recounted in the biblical Books of the Maccabees.
