Dekel Ben-Shitrit, a gardener in Moshav Hayogev in the Lower Galilee, found a lot more than weeds in his gardening session last Thursday (February 22): according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Ben-Shitrit found an intact bronze ring bearing the image of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of travelers, resting comfortably among the weeds.
The IAA estimates that the ring is around 700 years old, and that it was accidentally dropped by a pilgrim making his or her way to the Galilee, between the 12th and 15th centuries. Ben-Shitrit posted a photo of his find on Facebook, and was contacted by Dror Ben-Yosef, director of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority’s Lower Galilee Education Center. The IAA then got into the picture.
According to the Times of Israel, Yana Tchekhanovetz, an IAA archaeologist, said that the ring is embedded with an image of a bald smiling man holding a staff, who “appeared to be St. Nicholas with his hallmark bishop’s crook”. He was considered the patron saint of travel, so it is safe to assume that a pilgrim traveling to the Land of Israel would carry his icon. Most people know St. Nicholas for his more generous role, as Christmas Eve gift-giver Santa Claus.
