e yesterday.”
Folding box mirrors such as this were documented in tombs and temples in the Greco-Hellenistic world, the researchers noted. They were usually decorated with engravings or reliefs of idealized female figures or goddesses.
Stiebel said a woman of high status might have received such a mirror as part of a dowry, but this was unlikely to have been the case in this instance, as married women rarely left their homes in Greece.
Alternatively, he said, she might have been a courtesan, as they often received gifts from men. Likening the hetairai to Japanese geishas, Stiebel explained that the women were regarded as “muses.”
He said: “Women in society were breaking glass ceilings in very strict and male-oriented Greek society, and we do know that they served not only as sexual escorts but were similar to geishas and provided an element of culture. For that they were given gifts and part of the economy of gifts in Ancient Greece had to do with mirrors.”
The fact that the remains were cremated also hinted at the woman’s origins, Stiebel said.
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“Cremation is alien to this country and the religion,” he said, explaining that cremation is not only forbidden in Judaism but would not have been practiced by the Persian empire either, which occupied the region at that time.
“The tomb was found in the middle of nowhere, not near any village, farm, or settlement, which suggests that she would have been connected with one of the military campaigns and dated to the time of Alexandra the Great or slightly later.
“We are suggesting that maybe she was with one of the generals.”
Stiebel went on to explain the significance of the four iron nails found with the mirror and remains.
“Nails were used to protect the deceased and also to protect living people from the dead. The bodies were literally nailed down to ensure they would not come back to the world of the living,” he said.
Stiebel told CNN that the team is continuing with further research in order to “zoom in” on the finer details of the mirror.
He said, “We hope to shed more light on the origin of the production of the art and maybe shed more light on the history of the owner of the mirror, the general who bought it, or where she came from.”
The research will be presented for the first time at an Israeli archaeology conference next month.