JERUSALEM.- Ten year old Nehorai Nir recently went on a class trip to picturesque Ein Karem in Jerusalem as a student in Jerusalem’s Argentina Experimental High School in Kiryat Hayovel. “We were picking edible plants, and I was surprised to see on the slope below me on a beautiful red pomegranate lying there on the ground,” Nir recounts. “I ran to pick it up and discovered a worm inside, so I reluctantly put it down—but on the way back up the hill I sufddenly saw a colorful object shining in the dirt. I pulled it out and was immediately very excited. The staff told me to call the Israel Antiquities Authority, and when they came, they were very enthused.”
The find, a beautiful golden medallion made with a micro-mosaic technique, was examined by Dr. Amit Re’em, Jerusalem District Archaeologist of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “This cross medaillion is not considered an antiquity by law as it is ‘only’ 100-200 hundred years old or so, but it is a unique object. The manufacturing method demanded expert craftsmanship which includes setting glass and tiny coloful precious stones, placed with exceeding precision to form miniature patterns. This technique was developed in Rome about the year 1800 or slightly earlier, And continued until the early 20th century. Besides its beauty, the significance of this medallion is embedded in its findspot—Ein Karem, a site venerated by Christianity.
Ein Karem is venerated by Christians because it is identified with the “town in Judah” where the New Testament places the birth of John the Baptist, and where the text says his mother Elizabeth, while pregnant, met Jesus’ mother Miriam. Christian tradition is that this meeting took place by a neighborhood well. Today there is a well in the Ein Karem neighborhood—and its suggested identification associates it with this story. It is against this background that two churches were established in Ein Karem, the Church of the Visitation and the Church of Saint John. They drew generations of pilgrims from across Europe to make Ein Karem a central vistation site, as they made their way from the coastal port cities up to the Old City of Jerusalem.
It is interesting that there are two-thousand-year-old remains in Ein Karem— a ritual purification immersion pool, called miqve in Hebrew, as well as tombs—the time of Elisheva and Miriam according to Christian faith.
“This cross is a testament to the personal story of a pilgrim who visited Ein Karem 100–200 years ago, reflecting the centrality of the Holy Land to the three monotheistic religions,” added Dr. Re’em. “People were willing to cross deserts, mountains, and seas, often over the course of years, just to touch the soil where it all began. The cross may have arrived with a pilgrim from Europe and fallen during their journey in the Land of Israel, or perhaps it was purchased here in Jerusalem. When Nehorai shared the story of the discovery, one could almost imagine the moment the pendant was lost—only to be found by the boy about a century later.”
“I would like to personally thank Nehorai for his alertness and his prompt report of the medallion’s discovery, said Eli Escusido, Israel Antiquities Authority Director. “This exciting find in the very month that Christians celebrate Christmas puts the spotlight on Ein Karem as a central place of Christian pilgrimage in the Land of Israel. Through the medium of a small but unique object, we are exposed to the story of one individual’s thrilling personal journey, which connects us to the past history of this site and to the world of the pilgrims.”
