JERUSALEM, Israel – Archaeologists have found a Jewish-minted bronze coin from the time just before the Romans’ destruction of the Second Jewish Temple in A.D. 70. The coin, found in the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount, bears an inscription in ancient Hebrew: “For the Redemption of Zion.”
The coin was minted during the 4th year of the Jews’ Great Revolt against Roman rule.
The find was a surprise, according to Esther Rakow-Mellet, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
“In the last few days, an unexpected gift was discovered,” she said. “Yaniv David Levy, our coin researcher, came here and, to his great surprise, found a coin, covered in dirt.
The coin was sent for cleaning. When it came back, “It turned out that it was a greeting from the Jewish rebels in Year Four of the Great Revolt,” she said.
Levy, their resident expert, explained, “The coin is made of bronze, and its state of preservation is quite good. On its obverse side, you can see a model of a goblet. On its reverse is a lulav, a palm frond used in the Sukkot festival ritual.” Other symbols of Sukkot also appear on the coin.
The coins were produced in Jerusalem under the supervision of Shimon Bar Giora, one of the commanders in the final year of the revolt. Analysts have dated the coin between 69-70 A.D. Coins from year four of the uprising are considered to be rare.
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The timing of the discovery is meaningful for Jews because this weekend marks Tisha B’ Av (the ninth day in the month of Av), a period of tragic events in Jewish history, including the destruction of the First and Second Temples, the return of Israel’s 10 spies under Moses when they investigated the Promised Land an brought a discouraging report about giants in the land.
In later years, the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans in 133 A.D., when the Jews suffered another defeat by Rome, and the expulsion of England’s Jews in 1290, along with the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, also occurred on Tisha B’Av.
Israel’s Minister of Heritage, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, declared, “The coin that was found – ‘For the Redemption of Zion’ – truly expresses the longing throughout the generations for redemption, for revival, for a free Jerusalem. Two thousand years later, we are privileged to discover this evidence in excavations in Jerusalem; another moving testimony that our roots here run so deep, they cannot be uprooted.
He added, “This is a strengthening message to the people and to the nation of Israel, just the national day of mourning of the 9th of Av.”
The excavations in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden-Davidson Center were conducted by the IAA, in collaboration with the City of David and the Jewish Quarter Reconstruction and Development Company.
