
Eight-Year-Old Boy Discovers 1,700-Year-Old Statuette in the Ramon Crater
A family outing through the Ramon Crater in southern Israel turned into an extraordinary discovery when an eight-year-old boy spotted a more than 1,700-year-old statuette fragment lying among the desert rocks. Dor Wolynitz, of Rehovot, was taking part in a trip organized for a paratrooper reservist team when he picked up what looked at first like an unusual striped stone.
“I was looking for special things on the ground that I could show in class,” the boy recounted, explaining that the object seemed unusual enough that he showed it to an archaeologist friend of his father who was along on the trip. The fragment, measuring about six by six centimeters, depicts part of a human figure wrapped in carefully sculpted folds of fabric resembling a cloak. A geological examination determined that it was carved from a light phosphorite mineral common to the Negev, indicating that it was made locally rather than imported.
Experts dated the piece to the Roman period and suggested it may portray Jupiter, the Roman god of the sky, or Zeus-Dushara, a Nabatean deity, reflecting how local traditions blended with classical influences along the ancient Spice Route that once passed through the area. Young Dor handed the fragment over to the National Treasures Department and received a certificate from the Israel Antiquities Authority recognizing his good citizenship. Officials praised his responsible conduct, calling him a role model and noting how much history still lies waiting just beneath the surface of the land.
(JPost/VFI News)
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