EMIL ALADJEM/ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY
A Judean desert cave has yielded four rare coins from the time of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE). Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in partnership with the Archaeological Office of the Military Administration of Judea and Samaria, discovered the coins during archaeological survey work at the cave, which is in the Mazuq ha-He’teqim Nature Reserve in the West Bank.
One of the coins (shown here) features a date palm and an Old Hebrew inscription that reads “Eleazar the Priest.” IAA numismatists believe this may refer to a famous rabbi named Eleazar ha-Modai, who was a significant religious figure at the time of the revolt and lived in the town of Beitar not far from Jerusalem. On the coin’s reverse is a cluster of grapes, along with the inscription “Year one of the redemption of Israel,” which would indicate a date of 132 CE for the minting of the coin.
The other three coins bear the name “Simeon” in Old Hebrew script. This was the given name of Simeon Bar-Kokhba, who led the revolt and was widely viewed at the time as a messiah.
The revolt was the culmination of decades of conflict between Jews and Romans following the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Bar-Kokhba led the Jewish insurgents to several early victories, but ultimately the Roman emperor Hadrian personally came to the region with six full legions. By 135, he had succeeded in crushing the rebellion.
A Judean desert cave has yielded four rare coins from the time of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE). Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in partnership with the Archaeological Office of the Military Administration of Judea and Samaria, discovered the coins during archaeological survey work at the cave, which is in the Mazuq ha-He’teqim Nature Reserve in the West Bank. One of the coins (shown here) features a date palm and an Old Hebrew inscription that reads “Eleazar the Priest.” IAA numismatists believe this may refer to a famous rabbi named Eleazar ha-Modai, who was a significant religious figure […]
