ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND RARE ZODIAC COIN

 

A beautiful bronze coin almost 2,000 years old has been rescued from the depths of the Mediterranean off Israel during an underwater archaeological survey, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday. The coin shows the emperor on one side, as befits coinage of the time, and Cancer, the crab sign of the zodiac and a lady on the other – interpreted as the moon goddess Luna.

The crab coin bears the date Year eight, referring to the eighth year of rule by the Roman Emperor Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius. That eighth year was either 144 or 145. It belongs to a series of 13 coins, one for each sign of the zodiac and one the complete zodiac wheel, the IAA said.

Cancer is Latin for crab and that is why it is named thusly in horoscopes. The weekly reading for Cancerians, courtesy of India TV: Cancer should avoid investment plans. EliteDaily elaborates: As the week kicks off, Venus in Cancer will square Jupiter in Aries – and that's just the beginning of that astrological analysis.

Scholars think that astrology, the pseudoscience of mundane divination, may have originated in Sumeria around 5,000 years ago, though there is clearer evidence for early zodiac belief in Babylon almost 4,000 years ago. Others suspect the belief originated in China, or ancient Egypt or Greece; maybe astrology spontaneously developed, much like agriculture, in different places at different times for different reasons.

Back to the coin, which clearly shows the crab: its arthropodan eyes on stalks, the right number of legs, its pincers in position seemingly holding up a half-crescent, above which we see the profile of Luna, and a star.

The other side shows the profile of the Gaul-born Emperor Antoninus Pius, one of the so-called five good emperors who did not pursue military glory and booty but ruled in peace, which may explain the paucity of historical records from his reign. He did put down a rebellion in Britain, but is better remembered for his encouragement of culture through building temples and theaters – and promoting science, which has not found support for astrology in any way.

To read the complete article, see:
Diving Archaeologists Find Rare Zodiac Coin on Mediterranean Seabed by Israel (https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2022-07-26/ty-article/diving-archaeologists-find-rare-zodiac-coin-mediterranean-by-israel/00000182-3441-db9c-a5a2-fe4b6ae50000)

To read the complete articles, see:
1,877-year-old bronze Roman coin discovered on Israeli beach (https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-713002)
Bronze coin dating back nearly 2,000 years found on Israeli beach (https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/archeology/1658758287-bronze-coin-dating-back-nearly-2-000-years-found-on-israeli-beach)

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