A Byzantine period “magic mirror” was reportedly unearthed by a teenager in Israel, local authorities announced Thursday.
The 1,500-year-old mirror was uncovered by 17-year-old Aviv Weizman, a youth leader who was taking part in a 56 mile survival course hike from Mount Meron to Mount Hermon, according to the Jerusalem Post. Part of the course involved participating in archaeological site digs, which is where Weizman uncovered the mirror.
Weizman was at a site called Usha when she saw an unusual shard of pottery sticking out from the dirt between two walls, the outlet noted. Weizman took the shard to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Northern Education Center director Dr. Einat Ambar-Armon, who revealed it must have belonged to a “magic mirror.”
A 1,500-year-old “magic mirror” from the Byzantine period was discovered by a 17-year-old Israeli taking part in a Young Leaders’ Survival Course at the Usha archaeological site in northern #Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Thursday.https://t.co/poKryrtCaJ
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) August 3, 2023
“A glass mirror, for protection against the Evil Eye, was placed in the middle of the plaque: The idea was that the evil spirit, such as a demon, who looked in the mirror, would see his own reflection, and this would protect the owner of the mirror. Similar mirror plaques have been found in the past as funerary gifts in tombs, in order to protect the deceased in their journey to the world to come,” IAA curator Navit Popvitch told the outlet.
Some have posited the shard might also be from catoptromancy, a Roman art of divination, according to Haaretz. (RELATED: Strange Circles Seen In Space, Baffles Scientists)
Though many such shards have been uncovered, they are not a “common” find, the outlet noted. These types of mirrors were too small to see a true reflection of oneself, but were useful for ceremonial purposes.