The crown was discovered in a remote cave in the Judaean Desert near the Dead Sea in 1961 among hundreds of other objects from the period.  Known as the 'Nahal Mishar Hoard', more than 400 objects were discovered by archaeologist  Pessah Bar-Adon and his team in the cave which became known as the 'Cave of the Treasure'

 

Also found in the cave was a scepter decorated with horned animals, clay goblets and bowls.  It is believed that the hoard was the sacred treasure belonging to a shrine at Ein Gedi,  twelve kilometers away. The purpose of the hoard remains a mystery, although it has been suggested that the objects may have been used in public ceremonies.  About150 artefacts from the collection can be seen at New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World as part of the 'Masters of Fire: Copper Age Art from Israel' exhibit which runs until June 8.

 

 During the Chalcolithic period (the Copper Age—4500-3600 B.C.E.), there existed an élite culture in Isreal about whom little is known, except that they were “masters of fire”—coppersmiths and craftsmen with a rich symbolic life.  A highly inventive and creative people who experimented with new ways to use not just copper, but also leather, ceramics, and textiles. Very little is known about them, but a few of their secrets come down to us thanks to their burial rites.

 

This remarkable  band of blackened copper, seven inches high and almost seven in diameter is ornamented  on its upper rim spiky figures, a hilt-shaped cross; two long-necked birds, which might be vultures; and two stylized gates or grilles, surmounted by horns.  The actual function of this object, although clouded in mystery, certainly has the aspect of a diadem  and the show’s curators have named it “the world’s oldest crown"

 

 

 

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