A 13-year-old Israeli boy hiking with his father on Mount Carmel found an 1,800-year-old bronze ring engraved with the image of the mythological Roman goddess Minerva, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Wednesday.
Yair Whiteson of Haifa said, “While I was hiking I came across a small green object and picked it up. It was rusty and at first I thought it was a rusted bolt. I thought about heating it up, but then luckily I realized it was a ring. At home I saw that there was an image engraved on it. At first glance I thought it was a warrior.”
This perfectly preserved ring bears the image of a naked man wearing a helmet, holding a shield in one hand and a spear in the other.
Yair was walking with his father, who had just returned from a four-month stint in the Army Reserve, through Khirbet Shalala, a site known for the remains of a Roman farmhouse and a nearby ancient rock quarry. Yair’s curiosity was piqued when he noticed a small, green object lying on the ground. “I am curious about fossils and rocks and like to collect them,” Yair said, adding that it became clear that it was not a fossil.
Recognising the potential value of the ring, the family contacted the Antiquities Authority.
Dr. Eitan Klein and Nir Distelfeld of the Archaeological Authority identified the figure as Minerva, described in Roman mythology, also known as Athena in Greek mythology.
“Yair’s identification of this figure as a warrior is very close to reality,” he explained. “This goddess, who was very popular in the Land of Israel during the Roman period, was regarded, among other things, as a goddess of war and military strategy and also as a goddess of wisdom.”
Researchers have dated the history of this ring back to the end of the Roman period, i.e. the second-third century AD.
There are also burial caves along the side of the quarry at Khirbet Shalala, leading to speculation about the origins of the ring.
The researchers said, “This ring might have belonged to a woman living on this farm. Or it might have fallen from a miner or it might be an object found in nearby graves. There are many possibilities.”
The ring will be displayed in Jerusalem.
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