The jewelry, including earrings, a hairpin, a pendant, beads — all made of gold — along with carnelian beads and a glass bead were discovered inside the remains of a lead coffin found on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus during an excavation in 1971. Yael Adler, of the Israel Department of Antiquities led the excavation but died and the findings were never published.

According to the Antiquities Authority’s researchers, the items bear the symbols of Luna, the Roman moon goddess, also accompanied the girls in their lifetime, and after they died, they were buried with them in order to continue to protect them in the afterlife.

The jewelry is being displayed at the 48th Archaeological Congress taking place in Jerusalem.

“These items of jewelry are known in the Roman world, and are characteristic of young girl burials, possibly providing evidence of the people who were buried at these sites. The beautiful jewelry that we researched is an example of such treasures,” said Dr. Ayelet Dayan, head of Archaeological Research Department, who picked up on Adler’s find.

“Late Roman Jerusalem—renamed Aelia Capitolina—had a mixed population that reached the city after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the evacuation of the Jewish population. People from different parts of the Roman Empire settled in the city, bringing with them a different set of values, beliefs and rituals. The pagan cult of the city’s new population was rich and varied, including gods and goddesses, among them the cult of the moon goddess Luna,” Dr. Dayan said.