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Initially counting potatoes, this student found the Pharaoh’s Treasure. PHOTO/ MINT
EDINBURGH – A student discovered an Egyptian masterpiece believed to be thousands of years old, in his school yard in Fife, Scotland.
The Egyptian antiquities were discovered when the student helped his school gardener harvest potatoes in the area, as part of his punishment.
The Guardian reported that the student initially thought the round antique found in his school yard was a potato.
However, after sending it for analysis, the student discovered that the artifact was believed to date from around 4,000 years ago.
The discovery of ancient Egyptian treasure buried in the Scottish countryside, rather than Cairo, is extraordinary.
However, the discovery is said to be the first of 18 Egyptian antiquities found by schoolchildren on three separate occasions in more than 30 years in some unexpected locations.
Locations include Melville House, a historic building near the small parish of Monimail in Fife.
Most of the antiquities are now in the National Museums of Scotland (NMS).
A teacher sent his students’ discovery to the Royal Scottish Museum, now known as the NMS, and Egyptologist Cyril Aldred revealed the significance of the mid-12th dynasty red sandstone head, from around 1922 to 1855 BC.
“About 16 years later, in 1966, an Egyptian bronze statue was discovered by a group of students in the same school district,” the report explains.
(wbs)
