An ambiguous finding in Israel near the Temple has scholars scratching their heads. The puzzle comes in the form of a couple of rings:
Strikingly similar to another ring discovered in the same spot a year ago, the artifact was found in the Givati Parking Lot excavation in the Jerusalem Walls National Park, only steps away from where the ancient Temple stood at the time. Yet, according to the researchers, whether the owners were wealthy Judaeans, Greek elites, or possibly individuals who straddled both cultures remains a mystery.
“The ring is very representative of the Hellenistic-period fashion,” Dr. Marion Zindel of the Israel Antiquities Authority told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. “When Alexander the Great arrived in the region [in 333 BCE], the Greeks introduced new materials and cultural influences from the East — India and Persia — which revolutionized jewelry styles. Combining gold with colorful gemstones became a hallmark of the era, a trend that persisted well into Byzantine times.”
According to Zindel, the rings might have belonged to a young girl on the verge of marriage.
Both artifacts were found under the floor of what archaeologists believe was an imposing public building. An additional bronze earring was previously uncovered in the same spot, suggesting that the jewelry was not there by chance. source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/2nd-gold-ring-found-in-city-of-david-sheds-light-on-enigmatic-hellenist-era-in-jerusalem/
The mystery is how these artifacts appertain to the Temple because of their burial:
According to the researcher, in light of the small size of both rings, the artifacts probably belonged to a child.
“One hypothesis we are investigating is that the objects were buried as part of a Greek ritual, under which girls would bury objects connected to their childhood on the day before their wedding,” Zindel said. source: ibid
This produces a conflict, of course:
“We believe the residents had some connection to the Temple,” said Gadot, “but at this stage, we have no clear way of understanding the nature of that relationship.
“For example, one of the seal impressions we found depicts a woman, possibly the Greek goddess Athena,” he noted. “Given that, according to Jewish law, it is forbidden to make images of human figures, how do we interpret it?” source: ibid
The article speculates then that maybe these were Greek Jews, or Greeks who were somehow affiliated with Jerusalem. What the article does not discuss as a possibility is that the building might have been one of the many places where prostitutes plied their profession which, for a time, proliferated in Israel. A couple of rings dedicated to certain gods of passion would make misguided sense to the Greek mind–even in a place like Jerusalem.