A teenager hiking in northern Israel unexpectedly discovered an 1,800-year-old ring adorned with an engraving of a Roman goddess holding a sword and spear.
The ring, which appears to be made of bronze, depicts Minerva, the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Athena, wearing only a helmet. Minerva, who was popular in the region during the Roman period, was "considered, among other things, as the goddess of war and military strategy, and also as the goddess of wisdom," Nir Distelfeld, inspector at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Theft Prevention Unit, and Eitan Klein, of the IAA's Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, said in a statement.
