Kul-Oba--meaning "hill of ash" in Crimean Tatar--is an ancient archaeological burial site located near Kerch in eastern Crimea, Ukraine, on the right side of the M25 road to Feodosiya. These exact geographical directions are for those of you who might one day want to go for a bit of a walk-about with the thought of visiting an ancient grave.

There once was a great Olympian goddess of war, wise council, heroic endeavor, weaving, pottery, and other crafts, who was often depicted crowned with a crested helmet armed with a shield and a spear, wearing a snake-trimmed collar adorned with the head of a Gorgon. She was born out of the head of her father fully grown and arrayed in arms and ready for battle. Her name was Athena. Her father was Zeus.

Once upon a time back in the 1830's on the slope of a mountain near Kersh some soldiers came across a rich tomb in which Bosporan--a noble--and his wife and slave were buried. They found jewelry galore.

Athena's mother was supposedly Metis ... first wife of Zeus. But when Metis was pregnant with her ... Zeus swallowed her up ... fetus and all ... and thus later gave birth to this warrior child who sprang forth from his head. This of course had the enormous advantage of avoiding labor pains and perhaps later even an episiotomy. However ... as a matter of counter-consequence ... the decision may have been a tad rash when considering what must have been an enormous ensuing headache. The lesson to be learned here is that no matter how great the god is and was--such as Zeus--making a mistake can easily turn into a severe migraine.

There are others who say Athena was the daughter of Pallas--a winged giant--and there are still others who say she was the daughter of Poseidon. Still ... I favor the Zeus version. When aspiring for a god for a father ... aspire for the top man I always say.

There are more stories of Athena than there are of the jewelry found in the tomb ... and since this is supposed to be about jewelry and its related subjects ... I shall try to refrain from historical pedantry other than to say that among the divinities Athena was considered to be the most ethical of them all ... with a harmonious blend of wisdom and power imbued into her soul. Not bad for a goddess for whom jewelry and other knick-knacks were created.

So ....

Among the things the soldiers found in the tomb was a stunning gold temple pendant of Athena ... intricate in its carvings and detail ... and quite perfect to even the most critical eye. When they made jewelry in them thar days ... they made jewelry.

And so now ... here ... you will see represented on our pages ... a gold temple pendant of Athena.