Little girl discovers 3,800-year-old Canaanite seal on family trip near Beit Shemesh, Israel
Tel Azekah is a significant location in the biblical account of the battle between David and Goliath
One Israeli family got the surprise of a lifetime when their three and a half year old daughter discovered an ancient treasure while on a trip to Tel Azekah, near Beit Shemesh, in central Israel.
Ziv Nitzan from Moshav Ramot Meir found an ancient seal in the form of a scarab, dated to about 3,800 years old. Scarab seals are small, intricately crafted objects that originated in ancient Egypt, and shaped like a dung beetle.
Ziv’s sister, Omer, described the discovery of the ancient find.
“We were walking along the path when Ziv bent down. Out of all the stones around her, she picked up this particular one,” she recalled.
“When she rubbed it and removed the sand, we noticed something different about it. I called my parents over to see the beautiful stone, and that’s when we realized we had stumbled upon an archaeological find! We immediately reported it to the Israel Antiquities Authority.”
The Nitzan family took the proper steps, as it is illegal in Israel to keep items like the scarab without reporting them to the Antiquities Authority – even keeping small shards of pottery is prohibited.
Semyon Gendler, the Judah Region District Archaeologist representing the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), commended Ziv and her family for promptly reporting the discovery and presented the young girl with a certificate of appreciation for good citizenship.
Passover is right around the corner, and there is an exhibition planned at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel. Nitzan’s special find will be displayed alongside other artifacts from the eras of Egypt and Canaan, many of which will be presented to the public for the first time.
Dr. Daphna Ben-Tor, a specialist in ancient amulets and seals, identified the item discovered by Ziv as a Canaanite scarab from the Middle Bronze Age, roughly 3,800 years old.
She explained, “During this period, scarabs served both as seals and as amulets. They were commonly found in graves, public buildings, and private homes. Some feature symbols or inscriptions that reflect religious beliefs or social status.”
The dung beetle was regarded as sacred by the ancient Egyptians, as the tiny insect crafts a ball from a dung pile, lays its eggs inside, and life comes forth from it.
Its name in Egyptian derives from the verb “to come into being”, or “to be created.” This is because the Egyptians saw the scarab as a symbol of the incarnation of God the Creator.
Tel Azekah is a treasure trove of hidden artifacts as well as a place of revelation and stories from ancient times that reveal ancient cultures and findings from the Judahite Kingdom, including city walls and agricultural installations.
The site is also recognized as a significant location in the biblical account of the battle between David and Goliath, which happened in the nearby Elah Valley, as mentioned in the Book of Samuel (I Samuel 17:1).
Prof. Oded Lipschitz, director of the Tel Aviv University archaeological dig, came to meet Ziv and her family at the Tel. He and his team have been excavating that area for nearly 15 years. He told them that Tel Azekah had once been a part of a thriving city during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages.
“The scarab found by Ziv joins a long list of Egyptian and Canaanite finds discovered here, which attest to the close ties and cultural influences between Canaan and Egypt during that period,” Lipschitz explained.
The IAA said that Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu reminds the public that “even children can be a part of discovering history.”
“The seal that little Ziv found during a family trip to Tel Azekah connects us to a grand story, that of the ancient civilizations that lived in this land thousands of years ago,” he added.
“Ziv and her family deserve praise for handing over the find to the National Treasures of the state of Israel,” says Eli Escusido, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “In our public tours, we will present impressive items for the first time, including seals of the pharaohs, Egyptian statues, ritual vessels, and evidence of the Egyptian cultural influence in the Land of Israel – and everyone is invited!”
For more details, please visit the Israel Antiquities Authority website.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
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