Cool FindsToddler Discovers 3,800-Year-Old Egyptian Amulet While Hiking With Her Family in IsraelThe 3-year-old picked up an ancient Canaanite scarab that dates back to the Middle Bronze Age The family handed the scarab over to the Israel Antiquities Authority, which plans to display it in an upcoming exhibition. Emil Aladjem / Israel Antiquities AuthorityZiv Nitzan was on a hike with her family when a rock on the ground caught her eye. But when the 3-year-old girl picked up the small stone and cleaned it off, she realized it was no ordinary rock.Instead, the toddler had chanced upon a 3,800-year-old treasure, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA)announced this week.Archaeologists say Nitzan picked up an ancientCanaanite scarab that dates to the MiddleBronze Age. When her siblings realized what shed found, they asked their parents to take a look. The family then handed the scarab over to the government.There are thousands of stones over there and it was upside down, but somehow out of all those stones, she picked this one, the girls mother, Sivan Nitzan, tells the Washington Posts Vivian Ho.Scarabs are small, decorated objects that originated in ancient Egypt. Theyre typically shaped like dung beetles, which ancient Egyptians considered a sacred symbol of new life, per the IAA.These beetles create dung balls or dung pats, then lay their eggs inside or nearby. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the dung.Ancient Egyptians also revered dung beetles because the rolling of the dung balls reminded them of the sun god rolling the sun across the sky, according to theIsrael Museum. Because they mistakenly believed the beetles could spontaneously reproduce, they also connected the bugs with the primary god of creation.In the Egyptian language, the beetles name stems from the verb for to be created or to come into being, per the IAA.During the Middle Bronze Age, scarabs were used as seals and amulets, as Daphna Ben-Tor, curator of Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum, says in the IAA statement.They were found in graves, in public buildings and in private homes, Ben-Tor adds. Sometimes, they bear symbols and messages that reflect religious beliefs or status.Nitzan discovered the scarab during a family outing at theTel Azekah archaeological site near the city of Beit Shemesh. Over the past 15 years, archaeologists have unearthed evidence of many changing cultures over the course of history at Tel Azekah, per the IAA. The Bible also references the area around Tel Azekah as the site of the famed battle between David and Goliath.Recent archaeological findings suggest Tel Azekah was home to one of the most important cities in the Judean Lowlands during the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze ages, says Oded Lipschits, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University who is leading the excavation work at the site, in the statement.A 3.5-Year-Old Girl Discovers an Ancient Seal Dating Back 3,800 Years During a Family Hike - IAA PRWatch on Located high above sea level, Tel Azekah was once the control point of a strategic junction of roads that traveled in all directions, according to the website of the archaeological expedition at the site. For millennia, Azekah flourished and grew, as its community benefited from Azekahs rich natural and strategic location.The scarab is just one of the many Egyptian and Canaanite artifacts discovered at Tel Azekah, which attests to the close ties and cultural influences between Canaan and Egypt during that period, Lipschits adds.The IAA thanked Nitzan for her discovery by presenting her with a certificate of appreciation for good citizenship. The agency also plans to highlight the scarab during an upcoming exhibition at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel.It will be placed alongside other Egyptian and Canaanite artifacts, many of which have never been displayed before. The exhibition will include seals of the pharaohs, Egyptian statues, ritual vessels and other examples of Egypts cultural influence on Israel.If she put it in her pocket and kept it, we wouldnt know about it, Yoli Schwartz, a spokesperson for the IAA, tells the New York Times Jonathan Wolfe. Were very happy to show it to the public.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.