|
Trending Topics
|
Hoard of Hasmonean Coins Discovered during Hanukkah in Jordan Valley
(Times of Israel) Gavriel Fiske - A University of Haifa team on Friday discovered a hoard of 160 coins dating from the Hasmonean period during a dig in the Jordan Valley, the university said Sunday. The coins were discovered near a road that ascended to the Alexandrion Fortress, also known as Sarbata, north of Jericho. They were dated to 80/79 BCE, during the reign of Judah Maccabee's grand-nephew King Alexander Jannaeus, who had built the fortress. On one side, the coins have the inscription: "King Alexander Year 25" in Aramaic. 40 other Hasmonean-period coins were also discovered.