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Temple Mount Rubble Yields Ancient Coins

[Jerusalem Post] Etgar Lefkovits - Two ancient coins, one used to pay the Temple tax and another minted by the Greek leader the Jews fought in the story of Hanukka, have been uncovered amid debris from Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Israeli archeologist Gabriel Barkay said Thursday. The two coins were recently found in rubble discarded by Islamic officials from the Temple Mount that is carefully being sifted. The first coin, a silver half-shekel, was apparently minted on the Temple Mount itself by Temple authorities in the first year of the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66-67 CE. One side of the coin shows a branch with three pomegranates, and the inscription "Holy Jerusalem"; the other side bears a chalice from the First Temple and says "Half-Shekel." In the Bible, Jews are commanded to contribute half a shekel each for maintaining the Temple in Jerusalem. The coin uncovered shows signs of fire damage, most likely by the fires that destroyed the Second Temple when it was invaded by the Romans in 70 CE, Barkay said. The second coin bears a portrait of the Greek leader Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who ruled in 175-163 BCE.
2008-12-19 06:00:00
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