A 13-year-old Israeli out for a hike with his father—who had just returned from four months of military reserve duty—on Mount Carmel uncovered an 1,800-year-old ring engraved with a goddess of war from ancient Roman and Greek mythology, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday.
Yair Whiteson of Haifa stumbled upon the small green ring while walking near the ancient quarry site that lies below Khirbet Shalala, or the Mishmar HaCarmel Farm.
“I’m curious about fossils and rocks and love to collect them,” he recounted in a written statement. “[The ring] was corroded, and at first I thought it was just a rusty bolt. At home, I saw it had an image on it. At first glance, I thought it was a warrior.”
The family contacted an inspector at the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit, who transferred the ring to the state-run archaeological body’s National Treasures Department for review.
It emerged that the teen’s identification of the figure as a warrior was very close: The experts said that the figure is, apparently, the Roman goddess Minerva, known as Athena in Greek mythology.
“On this beautiful ring, preserved in its entirety, is the image of a helmeted naked figure,” said Nir Distelfeld and Eitan Klein of the Theft Prevention Unit. “In one hand she holds a shield, and a spear in the other.”
Minerva was considered to be, among other things, the goddess of war and military strategy, and also of wisdom, according to the IAA.
The small ring likely belonged to a woman or girl during the Late Roman Period (2nd to 3rd century C.E.) who lived on a nearby Roman farm.
Another possibility is that it was dropped by a quarry worker, or was a burial offering.
Either way, it will be displayed to the public this summer at the IAA’s Jerusalem archaeological campus.
As for Whiteson, he received a tour of the archaeology center and a Good Citizenry commendation.
