Hellenistic burial cave with rare mirror unearthed in Jerusalem

(JNS) - A 2,300-year-old tomb of a courtesan, including among other things a well-preserved bronze mirror, has been uncovered on a major Jerusalem thoroughfare, offering rare evidence of the Hellenistic period in the city, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday.

The burial cave, which was discovered on a rocky slope aside Hebron Road and near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, included the cremated remains of a young woman alongside a box mirror in a perfect state of preservation, the state-run archaeological body said.

"This is, in fact, the earliest evidence in Israel of cremation in the...