A miniature sculpture, which is approximately 2,800 years old, was found in the ancient city of Avel-Beth-Maach in northern Israel, it is assumed that she depicts a biblical king.
Mario Tobia, a student engineer from Jerusalem, discovered the sculpture last summer in an ancient city, which is mentioned several times in the Bible. The sculpture depicts the head of a man with long black hair and a beard. He has dark almond-shaped eyes and a serious facial expression.
The head size is only 5.1 by 5.6 centimeters, once it was part of a small statuette, say archaeologists.
“Despite the small and harmless appearance of the head, it gives us a unique opportunity to look into the eyes of a famous person from the past,” said Professor Robert Mullins. “We guess that the king is most likely to be portrayed, but we can not prove it.”
The radiocarbon analysis of the organic material found in the same building as the miniature sculpture suggests that the object was built in 902-806 BC.
The sculpture could represent the kings of Ahab from Israel, Hazael from Aram-Damascus or Etbaal from Tire.
Excavations continue this summer, archaeologists hope to find other artifacts that can help determine who is portrayed by a miniature sculpture.
