Jesus’ Tomb Depicted on a Byzantine Gold Ring from Jerusalem

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In the May/June 1986 BAR, Yaakov Meshorer published for the first time an exquisite gold ring excavated just south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (“Ancient Gold Ring Depicts the Holy Sepulchre,” BAR 12:03).

According to Meshorer, the bezel of the ring (the part that projects from the finger) is in the form of a structure he identifies as the Holy Sepulchre, the tomb of Jesus.

Largely on stylistic grounds, Meshorer dates the ring to the Crusader period or thereafter, anywhere from the 12th century to the 16th century, when such rings, featuring the Holy Sepulchre as rebuilt in the Crusader period, were being sold in Jerusalem as souvenirs. He recognizes that the ring was found in a Byzantine house and on this basis was originally dated to the sixth century A.D., but that date, he says, “now seems clearly wrong.” Apparently he regards the ring as an intrusion into the Byzantine level of excavation.

I agree that the ring was intended to depict the tomb of Jesus, but I believe it can be shown that the ring indeed dates to the Byzantine period, a time of glory for Christian art.

The overall design of this solid gold ring is outstanding. In execution, it is a masterpiece of granulation technique. The hoop of the ring—the part that fits around the finger—is composed of two parallel rings of gold granules applied to an inner ring featuring a wavy gold line.

Gold granules also adorn the structure depicted on the ring. It is a four-sided structure with arches on each side composed of gold granules. A vertical shaft of gold granules divides each of the arches. From the base of each shaft grow two branches of gold granules, one from each side. In the four corners of the structure are pillars also composed of gold granules.

The building is surmounted by a cone-shaped dome topped by a knob. The dome is made of vertical strips descending from the top and extending down to the base of the dome. At the bottom of the dome are two rows of alternating perforations.

Professor Benjamin Mazar, director of the excavations adjacent to the Temple Mount, where the ring was found, identifies the structure on the ring as a “sacred edifice,” perhaps the Anastasis that marked the site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection. In Professor Mazar’s opinion, there is no doubt that the stratum and find-spot of the ring date to the Byzantine period; the ring itself, he says, should therefore be dated to the sixth century A.D.¹

Comparative material not dealt with in Meshorer’s article will place the ring in a broader perspective—and lead us to the same conclusion as Professor Mazar. This comparative material includes other rings with similar sacred structures on them, as well as mosaics, ivory plaques, metal vials and perfume burners that depict buildings identified as “sacred edifices”—and all date to the Byzantine period.

Some of these examples are depicted in the illustrations in 047this article. References to other examples are collected in an endnote.²

Scholars have identified all of these depictions of a sacred edifice as the tomb of Jesus. So I concur with Meshorer that the gold ring from Jerusalem also depicts the tomb of Jesus.

In the fourth century A.D., the emperor Constantine built the Anastasis over Jesus’ tomb—a circular, open, pillared structure surmounted with a dome.³ Original parts of Constantine’s Anastasis still survive inside the present Church of the Holy Sepulchre, although parts of it are reconstructed.^a While this structure could also be seen in Crusader times, the Byzantine parallels provide strong evidence that the gold ring from Jerusalem dates to the earlier period.

Moreover, Professor Mazar found no archaeological strata later than the Byzantine period in the area where the ring was found, so it would be most unlikely to find a Crusader ring here.

Meshorer suggests that the gold granule shafts with branches sprouting from them, which are found in each of the ring’s four arches, represent stylized lilies. He may well be correct. But the lily is a well-known symbol in Christian iconography as early as the Byzantine period. The lily appears for the first time on the Yehud coins from the late Persian period, about 350–332 B.C. On these coins the lily appears together with an inscription in ancient Hebrew script, YHD (Yehud), the Aramaic name of the Jewish province in the Persian empire. The ancient Hebrew script symbolizes national independence, while the lily symbolizes the grandeur of the First Temple, on which 048the lily was a decoration. Together both of them symbolize the hope of returning to the glory of the past.

The lily and the ancient Hebrew script continue to appear on second-century B.C. Hasmonean coins, probably as devices legitimizing their rule. The ancient Hebrew script appears again in the second century A.D. on the coins of Bar-Kokhba, leader of the unsuccessful last revolt against the Romans. The lily does not appear on these coins, perhaps because by that time the Temple was already destroyed.

With the spread of Christianity the stylized, tripartite lily was adopted by Christians as a symbol of the Holy Trinity; its white color symbolized the Virgin Mary. Once the lily was adopted as a Christian motif it was not used as a Jewish symbol.⁴ The stylized lilies in the gold ring from Jerusalem may reflect an artistic fusion of realism and symbolism.

Meshorer also suggests that the ring may have been made as a Jerusalem souvenir to be purchased by pilgrims. Here, too, he may well be correct. But this could be true in Byzantine times, as well as in the Crusader period. Metal vials like the one pictured above were produced in Jerusalem in the Byzantine period,⁵ 049apparently to hold holy water or oil to be sold as souvenirs to pilgrims. It is also possible, however, that the ring from Jerusalem was used by the bishops of Jerusalem as suggested by Professor Mazar.⁶ Beginning in the seventh century, rings are mentioned as part of the emblems of office of bishops to symbolize their bond with their church.

In any event, this beautiful gold ring is an extraordinarily exciting find, fully justifying the unusual interest that has been shown in it.