Archaeologists in Israel have recently unearthed a 1000-year-old chicken egg during excavations in the town of Yavneh. According to a report in the Daily Mail, the egg was found on a Byzantine industrial complex.
The most fascinating part about this egg discovery is that it was surrounded by human faeces in an ancient sewer. The Archaeological Survey of Israel (IAA), which shared information about the discovery of the egg, said a collection of Islamic-era bone toys known as Coptic dolls was also found in the septic tank.
“We were astonished to find it,” IAA archaeologist Alla Nagorsky, head of this part of the salvage dig, told Haaretz. “From time to time we find fragments of eggshells, but a whole egg is extraordinary.”
The egg was about six centimetres high and had some cracks in its shell. However, over time, the egg had become more fragile. The photo was released when the egg was currently taken to the IAA’s laboratory for analysis. When Lee Barry Call of the IAA, a leading poultry expert in the ancient world, spoke of this, he revealed that there was no embryo inside the egg. He said that there was no yellow nucleus when it was slightly opened. Researchers are now working to extract DNA from the egg.
They are carrying out a study to learn more about the ancient object. How this egg got into the sewer tank is still a mystery to archaeologists. They also agree that the answer to this question will never be known. All three bone dolls found with eggs during excavations are thought to be thousands of years old. These Coptic dolls first appeared in Egypt and Palestine. Excavations in Yavneh have been underway for several months to develop a new housing project.
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