11 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

1,000-year-old Chicken Egg Found in Israel

Archaeologists discover almost fully intact but nearly empty egg and three rare Islamic-period bone dolls in excavation of settlement dating from Byzantine period.

During recent digs in the central village of Yavne, archaeologists unearthed an exceedingly unusual, almost fully intact 1,000-year-old chicken egg, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The unexpected discovery was made during an IAA salvage excavation of a historic cesspit going back to the Islamic period, which was carried out ahead of a new neighborhood construction.

Archaeologists were astounded to uncover a fragile ancient chicken egg that had been perfectly preserved a millennium ago by being originally pillowed in soft human dung within a cesspit, according to an IAA news statement.

“The egg’s unique preservation is evidently due to the conditions in which it lay for centuries, nestled in a cesspit containing soft human waste that preserved it,” IAA archaeologist Alla Nagorsky, the site’s excavation director, said. “Even today, eggs rarely survive for long in supermarket cartons. It’s amazing to think this is a 1,000-year-old find!”


Since the shell was slightly cracked, most of its contents leaked out, but part of the yoke was still inside, which will allow further analysis in the future.

The egg from the excavation. (Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Chicken have been raised in Israel for consumption of eggs and meat for some 2,300 years since the Hellenist period and early Roman period.
Bone assemblages in the land indicate that from the 7th century when the Islamic period began, pork consumption drastically decreased compared to previous centuries.

Three 1,000-year-old Islamic-period bone dolls from the cesspit in Yavne (Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority)
Three 1,000-year-old Islamic-period bone dolls from the cesspit in Yavne (Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority)

“Families needed a ready protein substitute that does not require cooling and preservation, and they found it in eggs and chicken meat,” Perry Gal said.

The egg further cracked when it was removed from the site, but was restored to its original state in the IAA organics lab.
The cesspit also contained some other objects, including three bone dolls from the same period.

The excavation has been conducted as part of the project to build a new neighborhood in Yavne. Israeli law requires that all construction projects are accompanied by a salvage excavation.

Source: Jerusalem Post

Related Articles

The Historical Building Next To The Million Stone Will Sell

6 February 2021

6 February 2021

Everyone has heard of the Million Stone, which was built during the Byzantine Empire and accepted as the zero points...

7500-year-old cursed city of Iran

17 March 2023

17 March 2023

Sialk Hills, located in the southwestern part of Kashan city in Iran, was known among the locals as a ‘cursed...

How Was the Life of Teenager in Ancient Times?

1 March 2021

1 March 2021

Youth is the same in every era. Not so hard to guess. How was your life as a teenager? You...

New Dead Sea Scrolls in The Horror Cave

16 March 2021

16 March 2021

On Tuesday, Israeli archaeologists revealed dozens of recently discovered fragments of Bible text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were based...

World’s First Air Conditioners “Windcatchers”

23 May 2021

23 May 2021

The Persians invented Air Conditioning! Although it should be noted that this is 500 CE, this is the first time...

Al-Ula, The Living Museum of Ancient Arab Civilizations

12 February 2021

12 February 2021

Al-Ula oasis is located in the lush Wadi Al-Qura, or “valley of villages”, about 110 km southwest of the modern...

From Prehistoric Georgia ‘World’s oldest wine”

12 July 2022

12 July 2022

For many years in a row, wine has been a popular alcoholic beverage consumed worldwide. While we associate many things...

The Oldest Known Map of Europe, “Saint-Bélec Slab”

6 April 2021

6 April 2021

An ornate Bronze Age stone slab (Saint-Bélec slab) that was excavated in France in 1900 and forgotten about for over...

The Earliest Evidence of a Domesticated Dog in the Arabian Peninsula

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

Dogs have been the best friend of humans since ancient times. Although it is not known exactly when dogs were...

Interesting from Each Other 7 Amazing Historical Discoveries

21 April 2021

21 April 2021

Archaeologists signed interesting from each other and magnificent discoveries with their work in the last 20 years. Let’s take a...

New Details on Mummification Techniques

28 February 2021

28 February 2021

In ancient Egypt, embalming was considered a sacred art, and knowledge of the process was restricted to a few. Egyptologists...

People knew how to make bread 14,400 years ago

15 May 2022

15 May 2022

Archaeological finds in Jordan’s Black Desert show that humans used stone ovens to bake bread 14,400 years ago. Researchers have...

The Most Unusual Places İn The World

10 February 2021

10 February 2021

There are countless beautiful places in the world. All of them are interesting and great than each other. We have...

The Worst Torture Device in History “Brazen Bull”

2 February 2021

2 February 2021

Agrigentum Tyranny today is in the provincial borders of Agrigento in the Sicily Autonomous Region in the southwest of Sicily....

Dental Treatments That Surprised Neanderthals

10 April 2021

10 April 2021

Before the invention of modern dental instruments, people tried to treat teeth using primitive methods. Nobody wants to have a...