2,000-year-old gold earring found in Jerusalem

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Archeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old gold earring beneath a parking lot next to the walls of Jerusalem's old city, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement released Monday. The authority said the earring is inlaid with pearls and emeralds and was made around the time of Christ, between the first century BC and the beginning of the fourth century AD. The statement said the "astonishingly well-preserved" piece was discovered during excavation of the ruins of a building from the Byzantine period, dating from around the fifth century, AD. It said the earring appeared to have been crafted using a technique similar to that depicted in portraits from Roman-era Egypt.