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Yair Whiteson, a 13-year-old aspiring archeologist living in Haifa, Israel, discovered an 1,800-year-old ring while hiking near the Khirbet Shalala archeological site on Mount Carmel.
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Experts with the Israel Antiquities Authority confirmed that the ring features an engraving of the Roman goddess Minevera, and was likely either a personal item or a burial offering.
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The ring joins the collection of other artifacts discovered at the site, and Whiteson received a certificate honoring his contribution to Israel’s collection of antiquities.
Many of the greatest wonders of times past were discovered by accident. French soldiers stumbled across the Rosetta Stone in 1799, Arab teenagers uncovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, a group of farmers digging a well happened upon the incredible Terracotta Army in 1974—the examples go on and on. Now, a new relic of antiquity is added to this esteemed list, as the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) confirmed the discovery of a Roman ring, depicting the goddess Minerva, by a 13-year-old boy during a hike near his home.
Dated to around the 2nd or 3rd century CE during the era of the Province of Syria Palaestina—which was part of the Roman Empire—the 1,800-year-old ring was discovered in Haifa, a city along the Mediterranean coast an hour north of Tel Aviv.
The ring was discovered by Yair Whiteson, who noticed a small, green, heavily corroded object on a hike that looked like a long neglected bolt at first glance. But upon closer inspection, Whiteson saw what appeared to be a small figure, possibly a warrior, engraved in the object, and eventually concluded that it must be a ring.
Unsure of what to make of the discovery, Whiteson’s family contacted the Theft Prevention Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority and transferred the ring to the National Treasures Department. After experts examined the relic, they came to an assessment surprisingly similar to Whiteson’s own.
On the top of the beautiful ring, which has been preserved in its entirety, appears a naked figure with a helmet on its head. In one hand, she holds a “shield, and in the other a spear,” IAA’s Nir Distelfeld said in a press statement (translated from Hebrew). “Yair’s identification of the figure as a warrior is very close to reality. The figure is apparently the goddess Minerva from Roman mythology, who is also known as Athena in Greek mythology.”
Being the goddess of wisdom and war, Minerva was popular throughout the region at the time, according to the researchers. And while they can’t be sure who owned this ring, it’s likely that it belonged to a woman or a girl who lived in what is now known as the Khirbet Shalala archeological site, which rests atop a hill in the center of Mount Carmel and contains a Roman-era mansion and rock quarry. It’s also possible that the ring was offered as a kind of burial offering, as the site also contains nearby graves. The ring will now join the collection of other artifacts that have been found at the site.
As for Whiteson, his voluntary contribution to that collection didn’t go unnoticed—he was given a private tour of the National Archeology Museum of Israel in Jerusalem, a seal created from the ring, and a “certificate of appreciation for his good citizenship,” according to the press release. It’s a pretty good start to Yair’s own archeological ambitions.
“Yair’s admirable act, who immediately reported the discovery and handed the ring over to the state treasures, demonstrates responsibility and respect for our past,” Eli Escozido, director of the Antiquities Authority, said in a press statement. “He told us that he wants to be an archaeologist in the future, and we reserve a place of honor for him here.”
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Source Agencies
