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A "box mirror" decorated with a woman's head in relief. It is made out of bronze, dates to the 4th-3rd century BCE and measures 8.5 x 6.5 inches. It swings open on the upper hinge and the inside surfaces were polished to be used as mirrors. It appears that there was a latch—now broken—on the lower edge of the mirror.
This artifact well illustrates the type of object that the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote to the church at Corinth:
1Cor. 13:8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (NRSV)
From the Belfer Collection on display in the Israel museum.
