A three-year old girl accidentally discovered a 3800-years-old Egyptian amulet outside Jerusalem, Israel.
Ziv Nitzvan, age 3, was hiking with her family in the region near Beit Shemesh, which is only hours outside Jerusalem. According to her older sister, Ziv picked up a particular pebble from a mound of stones. Rubbing it revealed that it was no ordinary stone – it had an intricate carving. The family immediately reported their discovery to the Israel Antiquities Authority, which took the stone under their possession.
The stone was discovered near the Tel Azka archaeological site, one of the oldest sites in the region. For many decades, various archaeological discoveries have been made in the site. The stone is not unusual in that regard; though the uncommon part was that the family chose to report their finding instead of keeping it to themselves. The stone is concluded to be some sort of amulet depicting a scarab. Its age is estimated to be 3800 years, dating back to the Bronze Age. The scarab, a type of beetle, has been a common motif among Egyptian culture for many millennia. Its discovery outside Jerusalem suggests that the Egyptian and the Canaan (ancient civilization in modern-day Israel) must have had strong trade ties.
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The Israel Antiquities Authorities shared the news of the discovery on Thursday, also promising that the amulet would be put on public display soon.
