GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A stone statuette over 4,500 years old depicting the face of an ancient goddess was discovered in the southern Gaza Strip, archaeological authorities in the Palestinian enclave announce today.
Carved out of limestone and 22 centimeters (8.6 inches) long, the 2500 BCE statuette was found by a farmer working his land in Khan Younis, according to the ministry of tourism and antiquities for Hamas, the Islamist terror group that rules Gaza.
“The statue represents the Canaanite goddess Anat,” Jamal Abu Reda, in charge of antiquities at the ministry, says in a statement.
Anat, one of the best-known Canaanite deities, was the goddess of love and war.
It was uncovered on what was an important “overland trade route for several civilizations” that lived in what is now the Gaza Strip, according to Abu Reda.
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