Yair Whiteson, 13, found as bronze ring while hiking with his father. Experts believe it depicts Minerva or Athena and dates be leading to a new chapter,” said Thoufeek Zakriya, a Hebrew calligrapher and scholar of Jewish history.

The settlement on the Carmel forest ridge has been under archaeological investigation for 150 years, yet the ring has only now been found.

Yair and his father gave the ring to the Israel Antiquities Authority, which dated the ring to be about 1,800 years old. It was found at Khirbet Shalala in the midst of the forest on Mount Carmel ridge, which once housed a settlement and farm. It is small, leading the archaeologists to surmise that it belonged to a woman or a child.

The IAA indicated that the ring will be displayed at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem.