The ancient scale weight found in Jerusalem. Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority.

A 2,000-year-old scale weight uncovered in an archaeological dig in Jerusalem is further evidence of the ancient bond between the Jewish people and the holy city, a top Israeli Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday.

Referring to the discovery of the Second Temple-era artifact, which was first reported on by Ynet earlier this week, Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold tweeted, “Yet another archaeological find proving the historical connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem.”

The scale weight — found by Dr. Oren Gutfeld of Hebrew University of Jerusalem during a dig at the site of the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue in the Old City’s Jewish Quarter — is believed to have belonged to the family of a high priest of Israel, whose name is engraved on it.

Jordanian Arab Legion soldiers during the destruction of the Tiferet Israel Synagogue in 1948. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

“It doesn’t happen very much that I get emotional when I find artifacts,” Gutfeld was quoted as saying. “But here, I blanched and trembled slightly at the sight of the name of the high priest.”

The Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue — constructed in the 19th century — was destroyed by the Jordanian Arab Legion in 1948 during Israel’s War of Independence. As reported by The Algemeiner, work to reconstruct the synagogue began in 2014.