A first-grade teacher at Alumim School in Efrat, Israel, recently took her class on a trip to Tel Azekah, sometimes described as the site of the biblical encounter between David and Goliath. Showing them a piece of ancient pottery she had picked up, she explained that there were many ancient artifacts and unique objects in the ground.
When she noticed that her student and their friend were trailing the group near the end of the trip, she found them studying a tiny rock that looked like a pearl.
“I looked at it closely and saw incised lines, I turned it over and saw ancient Egyptian writing,” Hanna Spitzer, the teacher, later said. “At that moment, I realized what I was holding in my hand was thousands of years old.” In fact, experts now say the object is around 3,500 years old.
Spitzer contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority, and Omer Shalev, director of the organization’s Jerusalem Education Center, visited the school the same day and presented Amalia with a certificate of appreciation. .
Photo Omer Shalev, Israel Antiquities Authority.
The scarab seal is a talisman in the shape of a dung beetle, an animal that was sacred to the ancient Egyptians and served as a symbol of new life. Such scarab amulets found in modern Israel indicate an Egyptian presence around 3,500 years ago. The amulet is named after the sun god Amun-Ra, one of the great deities of the Egyptian pantheon of the New Kingdom (16th-11th centuries BC). Five scarabs bearing his name had previously been found in Tel Azekah.
“Many people have antiquities in their homes that have come into their possession under different circumstances: some have been collected in the field during agricultural work or walking and others have been inherited,” said Eli Escusido, director of the Antiquities Authority, in a press release posted on the body’s Facebook page. “Many of these people are unaware that they are required by law to report the discovery of antiquities, as they are legally public historical treasures.”
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