AN ANCIENT CUPID CAMEO has been excavated in Jerusalem:

Israel archeologists uncover 2,000-year-old cupid in City of David dig

Israel Antiquities Authority says added inlaid semi-precious stone is of the ‘Eros in mourning,’ one of a group of visual motifs linked with mourning practices.

By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel news archeology Jerusalem

Israeli archeologists unveiled a 2,000 year old semi-precious cameo bearing the image of Cupid on Monday, which the Israel Antiquities Authorities (IAA) said was among several items located in the City of David archeological area in Jerusalem’s Old City in the last 12 months.

The cameo, which will be displayed at the 11th Annual City of David Archaeology Conference scheduled to take place later this week, is 1 cm in length and 0.7 cm in width, and was discovered in the Givati Parking Lot Excavation, a part of the Jerusalem Walls National Park.

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Click on the link for a photo and detailed description.

Via Jim Davila’s PaleoJudaica.com

This is an interesting find that demonstrates how the syncretization of religious ideas and symbols in the ancient world was deeper than we sometimes think.

Now I’m not trying to make any profound connection here between modern LDS temples and ancient practices, but it was interesting for me to read about this find in light of a recent discussion I had with some LDS colleagues regarding an apparent image of Cupid inside the LDS Salt Lake Temple.  I think this does demonstrate that no matter the original or subsequent interpretation of a specific religious symbol, that symbol can, and very often is, reapplied by others to fit their own belief system.