Alon Cohen, Liam Atias and Rotem Livnat — three fourth-grade students from Kibbutz Parod in northern Israel — went on a hike around their small, sleepy community when they stumbled upon a curious rock.
Upon inspection of the exotic article, the sharp-sighted adventurers realized they had unearthed a piece of ancient history — a 2,000-year-old oil lamp from the early Roman period. They shared their discovery with their parents who called up to report it to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
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Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Dr. Haim Mamalya and the boys holding the 2,000-year-old oil lamp
(Photo: Shaked Cohen)
"At first, we thought it was a special stone, so we pulled the object out of the ground," say the three fledgling explorers.
IAA archaeologist Dr. Haim Mamalya came to collect the lamp and peppered the children with queries in order to glean more information that might help for future research.
"Near the point where the discovery was made, there’s currently an archaeological excavation by the Antiquities Authority in preparation for the construction of a new neighborhood in the kibbutz,” Mamalya says.
“It is interesting that the children found the lamp outside the area where we are digging; The finding may give us a clue as to how far the borders of the ancient site stretched.
If it weren't for the children, we wouldn't have known this. There is no doubt that the find sheds new and interesting light on the excavation."
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Alon Cohen, Liam Atias and Rotem Livnat with Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Dr. Einat Ambar-Armon (upper right) and the boy's teacher Shlomit Elimor
(Photo: Shaked Cohen)
The children and their parents handed the lamp to the IAA’s National Treasures Department, which returned the favor by presenting them with a certificate for outstanding citizenship, as well as a lecture about the antique lamp for all their classmates.
"From the archaeological research and the historical sources we know that the site was a large Jewish village, and thanks to the discovery of the lamp close to Hanukkah, we get a greeting from the ancient Jewish settlement of Parod,” says Dr. Einat Ambar-Armon, director of the Northern Region Educational Center.
"From excavations conducted on the outskirts of the site, as well as from historical sources, it appears that Parod was a stable and wealthy Jewish village.
The lamp that was discovered is typical for the Jewish settlement in the early Roman period… For the most part, this kind of lamp comes without decorations, unlike the contemporary Roman ones. This is a special discovery, it is quite rare to find a whole lamp like that. The boys and their parents demonstrated good citizenship in returning the find to the Antiquities Authority."