JERUSALEM'S OLD CITY BAR KOKHBA COIN FINDS

Archaeologists conducting excavations in Jerusalem's Old City have unearthed a nearly 2,000-year-old bronze coin minted during the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced in a statement earlier this month.

An unsuccessful uprising that lasted from 132 to 136 A.D., Bar Kokhba found the Jewish people rebelling against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. During the revolt, Jews began minting coins by pressing their own insignia on top of already circulating currency, including Roman denarii. Many such tokens have been discovered outside of Jerusalem, but out of the more than 22,000 coins discovered in the Old City, just four date to the time of the uprising—and only this newly discovered specimen features the word "Jerusalem," the statement notes.

Researchers found the coin—which displays a cluster of grapes alongside the inscription "Year Two of the Freedom of Israel" on one side and a palm tree with the inscription "Jerusalem" on its reverse—in the William Davidson Archaeological Park. Other coins minted during the Jewish rebellion feature a temple facade, trumpets and a lyre, among other motifs, as well as slogans including "Redemption of Israel" and "Freedom of Israel."

"The operating principle on all Jewish coins is they have no pagan images; and they don't have human figures," Donald Tzvi Ariel, head of the IAA's coin department, tells Ruth Schuster of Haaretz. "Jewish coinage has cornucopias, pomegranates, a star, diadems, flowers, palm branches and so on."

Though some interpret the Bar Kokhba coins' creation as a decisive refutation of Roman authority, Ariel says the rebels' overstriking of existing coinage was probably driven more by need and the size of available coin dies.

"It was a business decision," he adds.

Bar Kokhba's followers likely minted their coins during this short time of success. But as Ariel points out, the paucity of specimens found within Jerusalem appears to support the idea that the Jews failed to fully reclaim the city during the conflict.

"Jerusalem was the goal and the battle cry of the Bar Kokhba rebels, but they never did conquer the city," the numismatist, or coin expert, tells the Jerusalem Post's Rossella Tercatin. "The small number of coins minted by them found in the city also bear witness to that. This is the first time that one of such coins [was] found in the area in 40 years."

To read the complete article, see:
This 2,000-Year-Old Coin Commemorates a Jewish Rebellion Against Rome (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/2000-year-old-coin-commemorates-jewish-rebellion-against-rome-180974920/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
YEAR TWO BAR KOKHBA REVOLT COIN FOUND (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n20a34.html)

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