Ancient Coins from the Second Temple

According to a news report, ancient coins dating from the time of the Jewish revolt 2,000 years ago are on display in Jerusalem:

JERUSALEM – Israel displayed for the first time Wednesday a collection of rare coins charred and burned from the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple nearly 2,000 years ago.

About 70 coins were found in an excavation at the foot of a key Jerusalem holy site. They give a rare glimpse into the period of the Jewish revolt that eventually led to the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple in A.D. 70, said Hava Katz, curator of the exhibition.

The Jews rebelled against the Roman Empire and took over Jerusalem in A.D. 66. After laying siege to Jerusalem, the Romans breached the city walls and wiped out the rebellion, demolishing the Jewish Temple, the holiest site in Judaism.

Read the story in its entirety here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Ancient Coins, Numismatics

Ancient Coins from the Period of the Jewish Revolt

Gwen Ackerman, in an article published by Bloomberg.com, is reporting that Israeli archaeologists have found a large cache of coins from the period of the Jewish revolt against the Romans almost 2,000 years ago. The following is an excerpt from the article:

Some 120 gold, silver and bronze coins were found hidden in a cave outside Jerusalem believed to have been used by Jewish fighters loyal to the rebel Shimon Bar-Kokhba, who opposed Roman rule in the biblical kingdom of Judea from A.D. 132 to 135.

“This discovery verifies the assumption that the refugees of the revolt fled to caves in the center of a populated area in addition to the caves found in more isolated areas of the Judean desert,” Associate Professor Amos Frumkin said today in an e- mailed statement from the university.

The find was in the area of the ancient city of Betar, where Bar-Kokhba is reputed to have had his last stand, and was part of wider cave research, the university said. The site lies outside Jerusalem in the West Bank, near the Jewish settlement of Beitar Illit.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Amos Frumkin, Ancient Coins, Bar-Kokhba Revolt

Gold Coins Found in Egypt

World News is reporting that gold coins of Emperor Valens were found in an excavations in the west part of St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai. According to the news report,

The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced an interesting discovery. Gold coins forged by Roman Emperor Vales were unearthed at the astonishment of archaeologists; these findings represent the first of this kind in the Land of the Pyramids.

The two coins were found during excavations in the west part of St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai. The image represented on the front side of the coins is very similar to that of Valens' and specialists agreed that he is indeed.

Read the news report by clicking here.

Credit: Valens' Gold Coins Image courtesy of World News

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Ancient Coins, Archaeology, Egypt, Numismatic