A 12-year-old girl discovered a 3,500-year-old Egyptian amulet close to an ancient archaeological site during a family trip.
Dafna Filshteiner was hiking with her mother by the Tel Qana site—located in northern Israel, within the Yarkon river basin—when she spotted something unusual: a beetle-shaped stone with decorative elements.
"I was looking down at the ground to find porcupine needles and smooth pebbles. And suddenly I picked up an interesting stone," Filshteiner said in a statement.
"I showed it to my mother, and she said it was just an ordinary stone or a bead. But then I saw a decoration and stubbornly insisted it was more than that, so we searched on the Internet.
"There, we identified more photos of stones similar to what we had found. We realized that it was something special and immediately called the [Israel] Antiquities Authority."
Yitzhak Paz, an expert with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), subsequently examined the find, determining that it represented a scarab—a type of artifact, shaped like the beetle of the same name, that was popular throughout ancient Egypt.
These objects, often fashioned from stone, were thought to be imbued with magical properties and worn as amulets, although they were also sometimes used as impression seals.
The recent find from Tel Qana appears to date to ancient Egypt's New Kingdom period, which spanned from the 16th century B.C. to the 11th century B.C.
"This find is both exciting and significant. The scarab and its unique pictorial features, along with other finds discovered at Tel Qana with similar motifs, provide new insights into the nature of the Egyptian influence in the region in general, and the Yarkon area in particular," said Amit Dagan from Bar-Ilan University and Ayelet Dayan with the IAA, who are conducting an archaeological excavation at the site.
Tel Qana is a historically rich location that contains evidence of ancient settlements spanning multiple historical periods, from the Bronze Age to the Byzantine era.
The scarab that Filshteiner found near the site is shaped like a scarab beetle. This creature was a symbol of new life for the ancient Egyptians, because it creates a dung ball and lays eggs in it, from which the larvae hatch.
The amulet also features depictions of two scorpions, standing head to tail—another animal that had symbolic significance in ancient Egypt.
"The scorpion symbol represented the Egyptian goddess Serket, who was considered responsible, among other things, for protecting pregnant mothers," said Paz.
"Another decoration on the amulet is the 'nefer' symbol, which in Egyptian means 'good' or 'chosen.' There is also another symbol which looks like a royal staff."
Scarab amulets found in Israel are evidence of ancient Egyptian rule and cultural influence in the region more than 3,000 years ago.
"The scarab is indeed a distinct Egyptian characteristic, but their wide distribution also reached far beyond Egypt's borders. It may have been dropped by an important and authoritative figure passing through the area, or it may have been deliberately buried. Since the find was discovered on the surface, it is difficult to know its exact context," Paz said.
The scarab is now in display in the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem, while Filshteiner received a certificate of appreciation from the IAA for her discovery.
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