A roadside burial discovered in Israel may hold the cremated remains of an ancient Greek courtesan who accompanied Alexander the Great’s armies on their campaigns.

The woman, who was buried with an ornate bronze mirror, was laid to rest 2,300 years ago on the road to Jerusalem and far from any settlement, suggesting she may have been a professional escort, or “hetaira,” traveling with military men — the first discovery of its kind, archaeologists said in a statement shared with Live Science.

“It is most likely that this is the tomb of a woman of Greek origin who accompanied a senior member of the Hellenistic army or government,” the researchers said in the statement. Her client may have fought in one of Alexander the Great’s campaigns, they added, or in a series of conflicts called the Wars of the Diadochi, which saw Alexander’s generals battle to succeed him after he died in 323 B.C.

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(Image credit: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)