Tel Aviv –
What a big egg you are! Archaeologists have made a very rare find in Israel – among human excrement. They found a small miracle in a cesspool south of Tel Aviv.
- Archaeologists discover a 1,000-year-old chicken egg بيض
- It was surrounded by human excrement
- An extremely rare find, experts say
According to their own information, Israeli archaeologists discovered a chicken egg about 1,000 years old south of Tel Aviv.
During excavations in an ancient cesspool, researchers found an intact egg, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday, June 9.
“Even globally, this is an extremely rare find,” Perry Gall of the Antiquities Authority told me, according to the announcement. Antique ostrich eggs are caught from time to time, but they have a thicker shell.
So the hen’s egg was protected by soft human excrement in the aquarium. It comes from the Islamic period.
The discovery of eggs in the feces: archaeologists talk about a “stunning” discovery
Excavation director Alla Nagorski spoke of the “amazing” discovery and said: “Even today, eggs rarely live for long in supermarket cartons.”
Poultry farming began about 2,300 years ago in Israel, according to the Antiquities Authority. Since the seventh century after the birth of Christ, a clear decrease in pork bones can be observed in the region – as evidence of the prohibition of pork in the Islamic era.
Researcher Gal said eggs and chicken served as protein alternatives. Unfortunately, the egg had a small crack, so that most of the liquid leaked out. A little bit of the yolk was left and kept for future DNA analysis. The excavations took place in the city of Gaffney. (dpa/mg)