(Sept. 16) -- A tiny gemstone portrait of Alexander the Great unearthed in Israel this summer is one of maybe two or three dozen ever found of the conqueror who helped spread Greek culture from the Middle East to parts of Asia.
And, according to The Seattle Times, it was an American college student volunteering at the dig who spotted the priceless piece.
Skip over this content
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=369366&pid=369365&uts=1248383457
http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf
Ancient Finds
Israeli archaeologists uncovered this quarry in Jerusalem, thought to have been used by King Herod to build the Jewish Temple 2,000 years ago. Authorities announced Monday the stones from the quarry were the right size for the temple's outer walls, which still stand today. The quarry dates back to the first century B.C.
Assaf Peretz, IAA / AP
Assaf Peretz, IAA / AP
Megan Webb, who was picking up some summer credits while applying to graduate school, worked with other students on the edges of a building from the Hellenistic period when she saw the gem, a professor told the paper.
"This is a very nice discovery, and one that's very hard to make, given that this kind of thing can escape very easily," Andrew Stewart, a professor at the University of California at Berkley, told The Seattle Times.
The gem measures less than half an inch long and less than half that wide, according to the Tel Dor project, a joint effort by Israeli and American institutions to excavate what was a major Mediterranean port for more than 2,000 years.
Alexander is thought to be the first Greek ruler who commissioned portraits of himself. Those portraits were put on coins, rings and other items as early propaganda, aimed especially at the people his army had subdued. At its height, his rule stretched from modern-day Greece through the Middle East and into Afghanistan.
In Alexander's time, Israel was on the edge of the Greek world, far from civilization's centers. Finding the gem there shows that some locals were wealthy enough to purchase and appreciate such a valuable item, according to a release issued by the Tel Dor project.
Sarah Stroup, an associate professor at the University of Washington, led the team of 20 students that included Webb, The Seattle Times reported.
"Never in all my years excavating have I ever seen anything like this come up from the ground, and I don't ever expect to again," she told the newspaper.
