An ancient oil lamp, believed by archaeologists to bring good fortune, was uncovered in a recent excavation in Jerusalem at the City of David National Park. The lamp was discovered at the foundation of a building that once stood on the famed pilgrimage road of ancient Jerusalem. Ari Levy and Yuval Baruch of the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a press release that they believe the rare bronze lamp had been intentionally deposited in that location to bring luck to the building’s residents. The lamp may have been elated to protecting the Siloam Pool, the city’s main water source.

The lamp supposedly dates to the Roman Period, after thew sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Ritual object burial under important buildings was common during that period, archaeologists said.

The artifact is shaped as half of a lamp, and was constructed by pouring liquid bronze into a sculpted mold in the shape of a grotesque, bearded man. A Roman artistic motif, similar to a theatrical mask, adorns the lamp on the outside, and the tip of it is shaped as a crescent moon. The lamp’s shape — half of a grotesque face — is part of what makes its discovery7 historic, and researchers are now debating what the shape implies about its intended use.

“The lamp is a unique find, the first of its kind discovered in Israel,” Ari Levy said.