3-year-old discovers ancient 3,800-year-old treasure during family outing in Israel

A 3-year-old unearthed an ancient treasure during a family outing in southern Israel, officials said.

She could have picked up any old stone from the thousands in the ruins of Tel Azeka, an ancient town in Israel. Instead, 3-year-old Ziv Nitzan pulled out a 3,800-year-old treasure from the Middle Bronze age.

“When she rubbed it and removed the sand from it, we saw something was different about it,” Ziv’s sister Omer Nitzan said in a Facebook post released Tuesday by Israel’s Antiquities Authority. “I called my parents to come see the beautiful stone, and we realized we had discovered an archaeological find.”

Experts later identified it as a Canaanite seal or scarab.

Ziv Nitzan holds the ancient scarab she picked up. Emil Aladjem / Israel Antiquities Authority“Scarabs were used in this period as seals and as amulets. They were found in graves, in public buildings and in private homes. Sometimes they bear symbols and messages, that reflect religious beliefs or status,” Daphna Ben-Tor, an Egyptologist, said in the Facebook post.

Originating in ancient Egypt, scarabs were commonly used as seals and as amulets and were designed in the shape of a dung beetles. “This beetle, considered sacred in the eyes of the ancient Egyptians, was a symbol of new life, because of the dung ball it created and then laid its eggs into it, from which new life would hatch,” the Facebook post said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-ancient-scarab-found-little-girl-david-goliath-rcna199226

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