Archaeologists Unearth 2,300-Year-Old Child’s Ring in Yerushalayim’s City of David

By Aryeh Stern

Archaeologists have discovered a remarkably well-preserved 2,300-year-old child’s ring from the Hellenistic period at an excavation in Yerushalayim’s City of David archaeological park, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday.

The gold ring, adorned with a red precious stone — believed to be a garnet — has a small diameter, leading experts to believe it was likely worn by a child.

“I was sifting earth through the screen and suddenly saw something glitter. I immediately yelled, ‘I found a ring, I found a ring!’” said Tehiya Gangate, a member of the excavation team. “Within seconds, everyone gathered around me, and there was great excitement. This is an emotionally moving find, not the kind you find every day.”

The discovery “paints a new picture of the nature and stature of Yerushalayim’s inhabitants in the early Hellenistic period,” said Tel Aviv University Professor Yuval Gadot.

“Whereas in the past we found only a few structures and finds from this era, and thus most scholars assumed Yerushalayim was then a small town, limited to the top of the southeastern slope [‘City of David’] and with relatively very few resources, these new finds tell a different story,” Gadot explained.

“It certainly seems that the city’s residents were open to the widespread Hellenistic style and influences prevalent also in the eastern Mediterranean Basin,” he added.

The ring will be displayed to the public at an Antiquities Authority conference on June 4.