Jesus' Galilee ministry site reveals rare, tiny stone after student's surprising find

Identified with the biblical village of Chorazin, Korazim is mentioned in the New Testament as a place where residents witnessed Jesus' miracles but failed to repent.

Pictures of the gemstone, which dates to the sixth century A.D., show its small size and striking pale-blue center.

The gemstone was found by Alon Horowitz, a 12-year-old student at the Ramat Korazim Regional Elementary School near Elifelet.

The sixth grader was taking part in a community excavation program that allows local students to work alongside archaeologists and learn about ancient life, organized by the INPA in partnership with Ariel University.

Horowitz told officials he found the gemstone just minutes before the dig wrapped up.

"After three days of digging, about 10 minutes before we finished, I was digging with my trowel and suddenly saw something blue, round and special," Horowitz said in a statement.

Kohn-Tavor identified the gemstone as a Nicolo, a rare variety of agate that was considered a luxury item in the Roman and Byzantine eras.

"It was found inside a wealthy estate, suggesting it belonged to a member of an affluent household," Kohn-Tavor told Fox News Digital.

"Archaeologists believe it could have belonged to either a man or a woman."

While archaeologists do not know how the stone ended up buried at the site, they believe it reached Korazim through long-distance trade routes that connected the region to the broader Roman and Byzantine world.

Horowitz is not the first Israeli child to stumble upon a remarkable archaeological find.