Biblical ‘fertility amulet’ found by 11-year-old in the Negev

Female figurine, probably a fertility amulet, discovered in the Negev Desert

(photo credit: YEVGENY OSTROVSKY/ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY.)

A child on a family hike in the Negev found a figurine dating back to the biblical period, the Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.

The artifact depicts a stylized bare-breasted woman wearing a scarf with her hands folded under her chest. It is about 2,500 years old and is from the late First Temple period or the beginning of the Persian period, also known as the “Return to Zion,” the IAA said in a press release. It probably served as an amulet for fertility and protection for infants, it said.

From an article in The Jerusalem Post
 Read the rest of the article here