Archaeologists in the Judean Desert have unearthed a small wooden box lined with sheepskin and a purple cloth. In it, they discovered 15 rare coins minted by Egyptian King Ptolemy VI, representing the “first evidence” of Jews fleeing to the Negev during the Jewish Revolt nearly 2,200 years ago .
Wadi Murabba’at is a deep ravine cut by a seasonal stream that has flowed from the Judean Desert east of Bethlehem for millions of years, through Herodium to the Dead Sea. The trove of money was discovered in a cave last year and represents “the first solid evidence ever discovered” in the Judean desert of the Maccabean Revolt against the Greek Seleucid Empire.
The discovery of this cache of coins dating from the time of Ptolemy VI strengthens the story of the Jewish Exodus in the Bible. Source: Israel Antiquities Authority
The sandstone cave is filled with treasures
The entire area is dotted with sandstone caves, most of which were inhabited by ancient farmers. Four giant caves, known as Wadi Murabba’at, were first discovered and explored by the Ta’amire Bedouin people in 1952. In those two caves, a collection of tools was found Primitive agriculture dates back to the Paleolithic period (4th millennium BC).
The Judean Desert has many caves in sandstone mountains. Ptolemaic coin cache found in one of the Wadi Murabba’at caves, site of previous archaeological discoveries (Pavel Bernshtam/Adobe Stock)
The remaining two caves reveal different layers of settlement dating from the Middle Bronze Age (18th-17th centuries BC) and from the II Iron Age (8th-7th centuries BC). Large jars, iron and bronze weapons as well as tools, coins and tools made of wood, stone, leather and bone, demonstrate that the occupation of the four caves was most intense during the Roman period. Code. In these two caves, several parchments written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin and Arabic were unearthed, including fragments of the Minor Prophets and the Exodus from Old Testament.
Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a Facebook post that a container containing “15 tetradrachm coins” discovered in one of the Wadi Murabba’at caves had hastily buried about 2,200 years ago, at the time of the Jewish Revolt, also known as the Maccabean Revolt.
Much of the Judean Desert is dotted with caves, such as this one where a cache of Ptolemaic coins was discovered ( Israel Antiquities Authority )
A hoard is ritually wrapped and packaged
The tetradrachm was a large silver coin considered “the most important coin in ancient Greece,” equivalent to four drachmae. The bottom of the crate is lined with a protective layer of fleece and purple fabric; The lid is covered with a layer of soil on top and small stones.
According to Heritage Daily, most of the 15 coins were minted by Macedonian King Ptolemy VI Philometor, eldest son of King Ptolemy V and Queen Cleopatra I, who ruled Egypt from 180 to 164 BC and from 163 to 145 BC. History remembers Ptolemy VI’s conflict with the Seleucid Empire for control of what is now Syria. However, the most recent coin in the hoard dates from 170 BC, meaning it was in circulation during the Maccabean Revolt, or Jewish uprising, of 167-160 BC original.
The Ptolemaic coin archive supports biblical accounts of the Jewish Exodus. The Israelites Leaving Egypt, 1830 oil painting by David Roberts (Public Domain)
Ptolemy Coin hoard only the latest discovery
This is not the first time coins have been discovered in the Wadi Murabba’at cave. It was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran caves in 1946 that led archaeologists and locals to explore other areas of the Judean wilderness in search of more ancient documents. In October 1951, a group of local Bedouin farmers were harvesting guano-rich soil, which can be used as fertilizer, from caves in Wadi Murabba’at when they unearthed a priceless ancient treasure.
Farmers came to the Rockefeller Museum with pieces of leather with Hebrew and Greek writing. Over the next two months, archaeologist Roland de Vaux purchased more fragments from local antiquities dealers, who had retrieved fragments of ancient manuscripts from caves in Wadi Murabba’at. The following year, he excavated four caves, discovering many layers of artifacts and 20 coins, including 9 coins from the Second Jewish War (132-5 AD).
Honoring artifacts from the origins of Hanukkah
Coin expert Dr. Eitan Klein told Jewish News that the ancient Jews most likely kept their most valuable possessions in the Judean desert “until a certain danger no more, such as the dangers detailed in the Book of Maccabees.”
As a result, an archive of fifteen coins tied to the origins of the Hanukkah festival, commemorating the restoration of Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC, will be on display to the public during Hanukkah Heritage Week at the Hasmonean Museum in Modi’in.
Top image: Treasure of fifteen tetradrachms found in a wooden crate lined with sheepskin and cloth (Israel Antiquities Authority)
