Ancient Statue From Biblical People Group Discovered By Farmer

A stone statue of the head of Canaanite goddess Anat, which has been found to be well over 4,500 years old, was recently discovered by a Palestinian farmer.

The idol was unveiled to the public this past Tuesday after it was discovered by farmer Nidal Abu Eid as he worked his fields near Khan Younis, a city located in the southern area of the Gaza Strip, stated a report from CNN.

“At first, I hoped to sell it to someone to make some money,” he stated to The New Arab, “but an archaeologist told me that it was of great archaeological value.”

The goddess the statue depicts, Anat, was the Canaanites’ goddess of love, beauty, and war, according to Jamal Abu Rida,  Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities Director. This statue of Anat is almost nine inches tall and depicts the goddess wearing a crown made of a serpent, as reported by BBC.

The Canaanites were a biblical people who descended from the line of Canaan who was the grandson of Noah. They lived throughout the land God promised to Abraham and were driven from those lands due to Israel’s conquering of the “Promised Land.”

The age and discovery of this idol to Anat falls in line with the known biblical timeline and the way it depicts the Canaanites as people who are wicked in the eyes of God. The first of the Ten Commandments orders God’s people, “You should have no other gods before me,” which goes along with the second commandment which prohibits the people of God from worshiping a “graven image.”

The finding of this idol to Anat seems to be evidence of the Canaanites breaking the commandments handed down and offending God. Consequently, their disobedience ended up seeing the Israelites forcing them out of the land in which they lived, as read in a biblical account.

As stated by Rida, this statue that was found by the farmer is a “symbol for the oldest human civilization that lived in Gaza City.”

It was reported by the BBC, “On social media, some Gazans are making wry comments suggesting the goddess’s association with war seems apt. In recent years, they have seen a series of devastating flare-ups in the conflict between Israel and militant groups in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas.”

The discovering farm stated to reporters, “We found it by chance. It was muddy and we washed it with water.”

“We thank God, and we are proud that it stayed in our land, in Palestine, since the Canaanite times,” he stated.

This discovered statue of Anat is now on display in one of the only museums standing in Gaza.

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