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The 2,500 Year Old Beauty Kit

The 2,500 Year Old Beauty Kit
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 9 to 12
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.04

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    agate, scarab, manmade, pendant, makeup, medallion, portion, bronze, beauty, extremely, lies, evidence, mirror, clues, powder, treasure
     content words:    Dead Sea, Middle East

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The 2,500 Year Old Beauty Kit
By Brenda B. Covert 		  
1     Scientists searched for buried treasure around the Dead Sea in Asia. The Dead Sea lies in the portion of Asia known as the Middle East. They were in the country of Israel. There they found a woman's jewelry and makeup kit. What a surprise that was! It's not every day that the earth gives up manmade treasure!
 
2     This treasure was extremely old. The scientists believe the kit belonged to a Jewish woman. She must have been returning to Jerusalem with her people around 538 B.C. They had been conquered and carried away to Babylon nearly sixty years earlier. Finally, those still living and their offspring had been allowed to return home.
 
3     We don't know how the woman lost her beauty kit. She would not have thrown away her silver pendant, her agate medallion, her scarab, or her beaded, gold necklace! These things, along with a carved powder bowl and a bronze mirror, were unearthed near a spring in a cave. Did she and her family spend the night there as they traveled on foot? Maybe someone stole her bag and hid it, planning to return later for it. Nobody knows. No clues were left behind. The beauty kit is the only evidence we have that the woman ever existed. What do you think happened?
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