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- Israeli youth discovers 1,600-year-old oil lamp during school trip
Israeli youth discovers 1,600-year-old oil lamp during school trip
Upon seeing a special stone and recognizing a pattern, the 16-year-old says 'I realized it was a designed object;' A similar candle to the one found was discovered more than 90 years ago
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![Ancient lamp found by an Israeli youth during a school trip in southern Israel.](https://cdn.i24news.tv/uploads/60/f2/09/1c/5f/e5/d4/91/48/f0/51/93/f1/4b/e0/d6/60f2091c5fe5d49148f05193f14be0d6.jpeg?width=1000)
Yonatan Frankel, a 16-year-old student at the "Tamar" high school in Hod Hasharon, central Israel went out with his class in a trip to the Scorpions' Pass in the south of the country.
When the class stopped for a lunch break next to Zafir Fortress, Frankel began picking up stones from the sand and examining them, recounting "One of the stones I picked up was full of dirt. I shaked it, when suddenly I saw a pattern appearing on it."
"That's how I realized it was a designed object, not just a simple stone," the youth explained, who also received a certificate of appreciation for uncovering an artifact and acting with good citizenship.
Frankel handed the object to the teacher who passed it on to a guide, who showed responsibility and ensured that the lamp reached the hands of an archaeologist from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
![Yuli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority](https://cdn.i24news.tv/uploads/b2/08/32/72/bd/aa/1b/a8/dd/24/f3/12/e1/84/d8/29/b2083272bdaa1ba8dd24f312e184d829.jpeg?width=750)
The oil lamp that was discovered at Zefir Fortress was made in Petra, Jordan, in the fourth to fifth centuries CE. When the lamp, which was found broken, reached the senior IAA researcher, Tali Erickson-Gini.
"While similar lamps have been discovered at Hatzeva Fortress, at Mamshit, in Yotvata Fortress, and in Petra, a lamp identical to this was only found about 90 years ago by archaeologist Nelson Glueck - also in Zefir Fortress," she said.
![Dor Davida Dagan, Israel Antiquities Authority](https://cdn.i24news.tv/uploads/43/c0/15/9a/44/52/f8/dd/1e/e0/ec/29/43/36/93/76/43c0159a4452f8dd1ee0ec2943369376.jpeg?width=750)
"We know that an ancient trade route passed through the area from the fourth to the sixth centuries. In order to maintain the passage of copper and perhaps even gold, a line of fortresses was established between the top of the Scorpions' Pass and the Hatsava fortress, of which Tzafir fortress is one. Patrols of Roman cavalry soldiers kept watch over this important road. One can really imagine how the lamp sheds its light in the dark, at an isolated fortress where the Roman soldiers stayed", added Erikson-Gini.
"I would like to thank Yonatan for his good citizenship," IAA director, Eli Eskozido, said in a statement. "Any return of an artifact to the state's holdings can significantly shed light (in this case, literally) onto our past."
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