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

A toddler unearthed an ancient treasure during a family outing in southern Israel earlier this month, officials said.

While visiting the archaeological site Tel Azekah, some 50 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, 3-year-old Ziv Nitzan found a scarab amulet believed to belong to Canaanite communities dating back as far as 3,800 years, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, a national conservation agency. A site with biblical significance, Tel Azekah is a hill created from the debris of settlements built on top of one another over time.

The discovery happened in early March, the child's sister, Omer Nitzan, told the Antiquities Authority.

"We were walking along the path, and then Ziv bent down – and out of all the stones around her, she picked up this particular stone," said Omer Nitzan, according to the agency. "When she rubbed it and removed the sand from it, we saw something was different about it." The family then brought the find to the attention of the antiquities authority.

Daphna Ben-Tor, a curator for Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem whose expertise involves ancient amulets and seals, determined that the small treasure originated in the Middle Bronze Age, a period spanning from around 2100 to 1600 B.C.E. That era saw the rise of a flourishing Canaanite culture in the Levant, a region believed to be comprised of parts of contemporary Syria and Lebanon, bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Canaanites were an early Semitic population living in this area who appear in biblical texts.

Scarab-shaped amulets like the one Nitzan came across are small, ornate objects designed to emulate a dung beetle, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. The agency notes these tiny treasures can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where the dung beetle was "considered sacred" and seen as "a symbol of new life" or even of God.

"Scarabs were used in this period as seals and as amulets," said Ben-Tor in a statement. "They were found in graves, in public buildings and in private homes. Sometimes they bear symbols and messages that reflect religious beliefs or status."

Nitzan uncovered the amulet in a section of Tel Azekah where historical artifacts have previously been found, archaeologists said. Other artifacts identified included city walls and agricultural structures from the Judahite Kingdom, which existed during the Iron Age in the last millennium before the common era.

"We have been excavating here for almost 15 years, and the excavation findings show that during the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages, here in Tel Azekah, thrived one of the most important cities in the Judean Lowlands," said Oded Lipschits, a professor at Tel Aviv University who led an archaeological dig at the site. "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."

The amulet will appear on display at a special exhibit by the Israel Antiquities Authority for Passover in mid-April.

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