Exquisite gold ring with amethyst stone found in Byzantine Yavne
An ancient jeweled ring was unearthed at the site of an ancient Byzantine winery in Yavne, Israel.
Picture of the magnificent ring from Yavne. (photo credit: DAFNA GAZIT/ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY)
A unique gold ring featuring a delicate purple amethyst stone was
uncovered in the excavation of a Byzantine winery complex in Yavne, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced.
The
wine factory was used to produce the legendary regional wine, known as
Gaza or Ashkelon wine after the ports from where it was exported all
over the Mediterranean. The jewel was unearthed near one of the
warehouses.
“The
person who owned the ring was affluent, and the wearing of the jewel
indicated their status and wealth,” said Dr. Amir Golani on Tuesday, an
IAA expert on ancient jewelry. “Such rings could be worn by both men and
women.
“Amethysts are mentioned in the Bible as one of the 12 precious stones
worn by the high priest of the Temple on his ceremonial breastplate,” he
added. “Many virtues have been attached to this gem [amethysts],
including the prevention of the side effect of drinking, the hangover.”
According to the archaeologists, there could be a connection
between this quality attributed to the stone and the location where it
was found.
Yavne excavation (credit: Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority)
“Did
the person who wore the ring want to avoid intoxication due to drinking
a lot of wine? We probably will never know,” said Dr. Elie Haddad, the
IAA director of the excavation, together with Liat Nadav-Ziv and Dr. Jon
Seligman.
A large
number of jars were found in the warehouse, some of them positioned
upside down so as to store them or dry them before being brought to be
refilled with wine
“It
is possible that the splendid ring belonged to the owner of the
magnificent warehouse, to a foreman, or simply to an unlucky visitor,
who dropped and lost their precious ring until it was finally discovered
by us,” Haddad noted.
The artifact was not conclusively dated. It was found in a fill
dated between the end of the Byzantine period and the beginning of the
early Islamic period, around the 7th century CE. However, since similar
rings – gold bands with inlaid amethysts – were common in the Roman
world, the jewel could have belonged to someone living in the city as
early as the third century CE.
Recently, another ancient amethyst was found in an archaeological excavation.
Dating
back some 2,000 years, the stone was retrieved by volunteers sifting
through soil dug in the underground drainage channel below the main road
connecting the Shiloah Pool, at the outskirts of Jerusalem, with the
Temple Mount.
Dr. Jon Seligman, Liat Nadav-Ziv and Dr. Elie Haddad , the excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (credit: YANIV BERMAN/ISRAELI ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY)
The
artifact was also likely placed on a ring. In addition, it was engraved
with the figures of a bird and a branch, possibly the first depiction
ever discovered of the biblical plant species known as “balm of Gilead,”
or persimmon.
In the past two decades, archaeologists have found evidence of settlement in Yavne beginning as early as over 3,000 years ago.
In the same area where the Byzantine wine factory
has been found – the largest from the period ever discovered in the
world – the remains of another wine press were uncovered, dating back
some 2,300 years, during the Persian period, testifying to the city’s
long tradition in wine production, as stated in the Mishna, which
mentions a vineyard in Yavne.
After
the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in 70 CE, Raban
Yohanan Ben-Zakai moved the Sanhedrin, the supreme court and
legislative body in all matters of Halacha, to Yavne.
During the Byzantine period it was an important Christian town, also featuring a significant Jewish population.
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