Special Display: Sacred Images

On the road leading up from Jerusalem’s Pool of Siloam to the city’s other pilgrimage centers, excavators discovered a tiny bone box decorated with a cross on the outside and two painted icons on the inside. Despite the box’s deteriorated state, it is possible to make out the figure of a bearded man dressed in white on the inside of the base of the box, while the inside of the cover depicts a woman dressed in blue. The images are probably icons of Jesus and Mary that were used for prayer.

Icons were considered to be divine images made without human involvement. Fervent arguments revolved around the question of whether sanctity should be attached to such earthly goods, and as such, during certain periods the use of icons was forbidden. Many were destroyed, while others were hidden in remote monasteries. This 7th-century icon box provides rare evidence of the use of icons in early Christianity.

Icon box

Byzantine Period, 7th century CE, Jerusalem

Bone, tempera, and gold leaf

AA 2021–925/1–2

Photo © IAA by Clara Amit