DEAD SEA COIN HOARD Pubblico Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 36, September 5, 2004, Article 7
DEAD SEA COIN HOARD
From a September 1st article in an Israeli newspaper:
"How did hundreds of thousands of bronze coins from the
reign of Alexander Jannaeus (Yannai) end up on the bottom
of the Dead Sea?For some years now rumors have been circulating among
antiquities aficionados in Israel about a huge coin hoard
discovered along the Dead Sea shore. According to Donald
Zvi Ariel, head of the coin division at the Israel Antiquities
Authority, an acquaintance from Haifa University approached
him 15 years ago with an envelope containing 190 ancient
coins. The contact recounted visiting the Dead Sea, at a
spot somewhere south of Ein Feshkha, sticking his hand
down into shallow water and bringing up a handful of coins
from the bottom. Since the area where the coins were found
is in the West Bank, Ariel refrained from examining them
carefully and sent the envelope to the office of archaeological
affairs at military government headquarters."Military officials in charge of archaeological finds looked into
the matter, and the story also spread among antiquities thieves,
assorted treasure seekers, and the antiquities dealers of East
Jerusalem. Word of the discovery of a remarkably large coin
hoard even appeared in several scholarly papers, but the affair
was not widely publicized. An article by Ariel about the
hoard will appear in coming months in a periodical published
by the Israel Exploration Society."To read the full story, see: Full Story
- 2004-09-05
- 7