Recently a rare bronze mirror was found in Jerusalem. The mirror is thought to be 2300 years old. The bronze mirror was found at the gravesite of a Greek courtesan that was near Hein Road. The mirror gives us an idea of the young woman who was found in the tomb with the mirror. The woman is considered one of Alexander the Great’s army courtesans. She most likely worked for someone high up in Alexander the Great’s army who could have gifted her the fancy bronze mirror. Courtesans would get gifts from their clients for their sexual services. The Courtesan did not only do sexual services, but also entertained them with poetry, dancing, and acting. The mirror was enclosed in a folding box, a characteristic of Greek graves. The mirror is the 2nd mirror of this type that we have ever found in Israel.
An intact 2000-year-old tomb was recently found in Italy. The tomb is surprisingly not very damaged, which is rare. The tomb’s door was a slab made out of tuff. Inside the tomb, there are art pieces that show mythical gods and creatures. One of these paintings is of Cerberus the three-headed dog. For this reason, the tomb has been named the “Tomb of Cerberus”. Cerberus is Hades’ three-headed dog who is meant to guard the gates of the Greek underworld.
Cerberus guards the gates of souls that tried to escape from the underworld back to the living world. The picture of Cerberus shows the hellhound being captured by Hercules. This was one of Hercules’s famous 12 laborers. The tomb also shows scenes of ichthyocentaurs which are people who have 4 horse legs and fish tails. Archaeologists say that a finding like this is infrequent nowadays.
I like the tomb of Cerberus more than the bronze mirror. This is because I have always loved Greek Mythology and already knew who Cerberus was. I also feel like the tomb of Cerberus was a bigger more important discovery than the bronze mirror.