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May. 26, 2021
A gruesome pendant designed to protect its bearer against demons 1,500 years ago has been returned to the Israel Antiquities Authority some 40 years after its discovery in the lower Galilee community of Arbel.
The amulet had been found near the ancient synagogue of Arbel by early moshav member Tova Haviv and was belatedly turned over to the authorities by her family after her death, the IAA says.
Inscribed in Greek, the device is made of bronze. One side shows a presumably saintly figure, judging by his halo, straddling a horse. He isn’t turning the other cheek, though: he’s stabbing a woman lying on her back with a spear.