CAIRO — An archaeological discovery does not always require months and years of research, imaging sonar or magnetometric scanning, drilling or sophisticated excavation tools. Occasionally, a passerby stumbles upon an artifact, just as an Israeli veterinarian claims he did, though some Egyptian experts claim that the whole story is a sham and the artifact was actually smuggled from Egypt.

Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported Feb. 4 that Rafi Bahalul stumbled upon a 3,400-year-old Egyptian stone anchor engraved with hieroglyphs during a morning swim along Israel’s northern shores last year.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said that the artifact is a granite stone depicting the ancient goddess Sechat. The hieroglyphs on the anchor date back to the 18th dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 B.C.).

Experts quoted by the Israeli daily speculated that the piece may be part of a mural decorating a temple or a royal palace. It might have been later used as an anchor for a commercial ship transporting merchandise between ancient Egyptians and Canaanites inhabiting Palestine, Lebanon, West Jordan and Syria for thousands of years. This pushed Egyptians to “erase the picture of Sechat out of respect to the gods,” Haaretz reported.