Some earrings (temple-pendants) serve as an ensemble and can be attributed to the Hellenistic-Roman trend.  Because of the width of the template (0.2), the overall static shape, and the item’s weight, we can assume that the ornament was intended as a set of temple-pendants. Temple pendants tend to be made in Roman style: the disk-shaped base and the grape cluster detail are similar to the gold earrings of the II century exhibited in the Römisch-Germanisches National Museum (Godlschmuck der Romerzeit, Mainz, 1984, abb.12). Similar styles may be found among the items found in Tillya-tepe; for instance, pomegranate is widely used in the ornaments found in ancient Bactria (see fastenings found in the VI burial site, cat. #40). Please note that this fruit is quite popular in all eras; first and foremost, it is one of the oldest symbols of Israel, one of the fruits of the land of Canaan (see Romanoff, Jewish.., p.51-54).

Similar insets of pomegranate are also found on Syrian-Roman ornaments made in the I-II centuries. We must note that the connection between the Roman Empire and the Kushan empire (and the connection of the latter to India), and Buddhism, a religious movement new to these regions, had influenced the art of jewelry making. In India in particular the art of jewelry remains one of the most popular forms of applied art, from the ancient times to the present.

A different interpretation of the imagery and shape of the temple pendants is possible. Eros, one of the popular images in this time played a large part in the ancient world, especially in India. A disk with large granulation on some earrings in its center can be viewed as a depiction of a female breast. Goddesses with multiple breasts are frequently depicted, signifying fertility and prosperity. Simultaneously, the disk could also be viewed as a shield with an image of sun in its center.

Concerning the likely owner of the temple pendants, we must note that temple pendants were mostly worn by women, sometimes together with earrings. Such sets served as symbols of fertility, large number of off-spring, and may have been worn as a wedding ensemble. Temple pendants were usually attached to a headdress or a diadem (see Neva E., Classifying the Finds of the Tillya-tepe Burial Site by the Materials Used… Dushanbe, 1987, p. 151-154).  After the discovery of the Tillya-tepe burial site, it was possible to analyze two types of ensembles (see Neva E., Ancient Jewelry from Central Asia-Yuvelirnoe iskustvo Srednei Azii v drevnii period, Tashkent, 1989, p.9).

Earring with three-part composition of the set ends   with polished oval-shaped garnet another example.  The three-part composition can present in the temple pendants as well. Three is a symbolic number -- it is the most popular symbol of the ancient civilization. According to the ancient philosophy, the world stands upon three things, the human family consists of three members – mother, father, and child, and the universe contains three worlds -- subterranean, terrestrial, and celestial. Note that the earring’s pendant has a conical shape, which is repeated in the temple pendant (in the bottom half) as well.

The Hellenistic-Roman trend introduced by gold earrings with an unusual image of a god or a celestial musician.
Similar items: see Bactrian Gold catalog, 3, 2, pl.87 p.148-149. A nude male figure, body is adorned with granulated ribbons. See Pugachenkova, Art of Bactria during the Kushan Era, M. 1979, p. 148-149, ill. 171.
Similar objects are found among the God’s pantheon of Kushan and India.   

Gold earrings, from Jerusalem, represent a miniature nude male figure stamped in thin sheet gold. Each is bent into shape of ring and soldered to the hoop, together forming an earring. The man is wearing a wide headband, which fastens the top of the figure to the hoop. A miniature disk, in the shape of an eight-petal led rosette adorned with granulation, is soldered to the hoop above the figure's head. The man's features, a high forehead and long nose, can barely be made out.

The arms are bent at the elbows, and the hands rest on the hips. Each figure wears a filigree banderole, which passes diagonally from his right shoulder to his left hip. The banderole consists of two fine wires (each figure has two wires) soldered over, and adorned with granulation along both sides (both sides of wires of each figure). It is important that different kinds of granulation were employed - a row of granules on one earring and clusters of three - four on the other  (Bactrian gold. Leningrad, 1985, cat. 3, 2; pl.87, p.148). Inside the earring, a ring-lock for a hook is soldered to the feet.


Similar items can be found in Greek   and Roman jewelry, from the museums of Greece, Italy and Cyprus, where earrings of the same type (they are composed of a half-ring of plated wires, to which a nude figure of Eros is soldered) are similar to the ones present in the Hecht museum. According to some catalogues of ancient jewelry from the Mediterranean region, earrings with the image of Eros were very popular in the period of time between III BC - I AD. Although the Eros was a common motif in Hellenistic jewelry, chronological range and the analogies suggest that the earrings purchased in Jerusalem are from the period between the IV-II B.C.

Let us consider some iconographical details of similar items: the gold strip over the man's head recalls the flying fabric or fire-flame. The disk over the figure's head in the shape of an eight-petal rosette symbolizes the sun or universe and Eros, subordinate to the universal order. Eros is the ancient creator of cosmos out of chaos, the first-born spirit of conception. In women's jewelry, Eros's image emphasizes sensuality. The mirror image sashes of the figures follow the universal principle of magic opposition: Left-right, odd-even.
 
As an amulet, the earrings protected the ear. The choice of gold as the material is also significant. Gold is known to symbolize the sun and heat; it was believed to have antiseptic properties, which were used in medicine. It is therefore not by chance that gold acquired the epithet "noble", and not only because of its external properties, its glitter and being easy to work with.

The earrings could be used as an "energy permit" to the world of heavenly dwellers or as a donation to a temple. The size of the earrings and their weight are designed for a young woman. The small weight may point to the owner's social status in the middle stratum of society. If they served as money, as jewelry in the ancient world often did, the earrings could not have been of a high denomination.

It is therefore in spite of their Hellenistic inspiration and possible Israeli provenance that our earrings can find Central Asian parallels (Bactrian gold) and in Mediterranean region as well. Several closely related examples and number of variants have been discovered sporadically in regions as far north as southern Russia and as far south as Crete.* In a number of late fourth century earrings, a precious stone has been substituted for the rosette. Other parallels can be found in the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design, the British Museum and the Staatliche Museum, Berlin**

We have seen that there are close contacts and mutual influences between ancient countries of the period mentioned above  This is attested by the techniques of stamping, granulation, as well as material, sheet gold, which characterized the craft of the artisans at the same time.

*Hackens T., Gold Jewelry, Louvan, 1983, p.82 **