A woman took off her gemstone ring before immersing in a ritual bath (mikveh) on Pilgrimage Road in Jerusalem and apparently dropped it and never found it. That was about 2,000 years ago.

Now the ring has been recovered by archeologists excavating the ancient mikveh in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem.

“Just like today, it would appear that in the past, rings and jewelry were removed before bathing, and sometimes forgotten,” said Israel Antiquities Authority archeologists Nachshon Zenton, Moran Hajabi, Ari Levy and Joe Uziel.

“This phenomenon, perhaps, is behind the discovery of the ring in what appears to be a ritual bath. This ring allows us to personally connect with an individual’s personal story from 2,000 years ago. The ring, along with other finds, can shed light and expose the lives of people during the Second Temple period.”

The mikveh was found along the old paved road leading up from the Shiloach (Siloam) pool to the Temple Mount and is thought to have been the main thoroughfare taken by Jewish pilgrims to the Temple.

“It’s incredible to think that this beautiful ring sat at the bottom of a mikveh on the ancient Pilgrimage Road for two thousand years, until it was uncovered by archeologists in the City of David. It is yet another piece in the puzzle that is ancient Jerusalem,” remarked Doron Spielman, vice president of the City of David Foundation, which oversees the National Heritage Site.

(via Israel21c)

[Photo: Israel21c ]