
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—ANSAmed reports that an amulet dated to the fifth or sixth century B.C. has been discovered in southern Israel by a boy out on a family outing. The amulet, thought to have been intended to protect children or increase fertility, depicts a bare-breasted woman wearing a scarf. Oren Shmueli and Debbie Ben Ami of the Israel Antiquities Authority said only one other such amulet has been found, and it was also discovered in the northern Negev Desert. To read about literacy in ancient Israel, go to "Reading, Writing, and Algorithms."