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Israeli Archaeologists Unearth 1,000-Year-Old Coins in Jerusalem

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JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli archaeologists uncovered a small jar of 1,000-year-old coins while working on an elevator installation project in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City initiated the elevator installation to make the Western Wall Plaza accessible for visitors to the Jewish quarter.

Israel Antiquities Authority inspector Yevgenia Kapil discovered the jug during preliminary digging at the site in October. Shortly after, excavation director David Gellman examined and emptied the jar and was shocked by what he saw inside.

“To my great surprise, along with the soil, four shiny gold coins fell into my hand. This is the first time in my career as an archaeologist that I have discovered gold, and it is tremendously exciting,” Gellman said in a statement.

The 1,000-year-old coins date back to a time when the Holy Land was under Islamic control.

Photo: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority

“The coins were in excellent preservation and were immediately identifiable even without cleaning,” According to Israel Antiquities Authority’s coin expert, Dr. Robert Kool. “The coins date from a relatively brief period, from the late 940s to the 970s CE. This was a time of radical political change, when control over Eretz Israel passed from the Sunni Abbasid caliphate, whose capital was Baghdad, Iraq, into the hands of ​​its Shiite rivals—the Fatimid dynasty of North Africa, who conquered Egypt, Syria and Eretz Israel in those years. The profile of the coins found in the juglet are a near perfect reflection of the historical events.”

Dr. Robert Kool examining the coins. Photo: Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority

Two of the coins were minted in the central Israeli city of Ramla, which was under the rule of Caliph al-Muti from 946-974 AD. The other two gold coins were minted in Cairo.

“Four dinars was a considerable sum of money for most of the population, who lived under difficult conditions at the time,” said Dr. Kool. “It was equal to the monthly salary of a minor official, or four months’ salary for a common laborer.

Dr. Kool also explained that this was the first time coins from the Islamic Fatimid period had been discovered in Jerusalem.

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