A rare hoard of coins from the time of the last Jewish rebellion under Roman rule more than 1,600 years ago has been discovered in the Galilee, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Thursday.
The 22 copper coins, which have been dated to the 4th century C.E., were found last year in a small crevice deep in an underground complex beneath the ruins of the Lower Galilee settlement of Hukok, the state-run archaeological body said.
“It seems that the people stashing this hoard carefully planned its hiding place, hoping to return to it when the threatening troubles were over,” said researchers Uri Berger from the Israel Antiquities Authority and professor Yinon Shivtiel of Zefat Academic College.
The Lower Galilee complex, an underground network of tunnels and rooms built to conceal Jewish people and practices from the eyes of the Roman army, was apparently first created and used during the Great Revolt (66–70 C.E.), and then developed and improved in preparation for the Bar-Kochba Revolt (132–136 C.E.), according to the IAA.
Upon its discovery, the researchers expected it to be dated to the time of either of these rebellions, but to their great surprise, the visages of emperors Constantius II and Constans I appeared on the coins, who reigned during the time of a later revolt—the Gallus Revolt (351-352 C.E.), the lesser-known and last Jewish revolt against Roman rule.
“This shows that hundreds of years after these tunnels were dug out, they were reused,” the researchers said. “Shortly after this final revolt—apparently at the end of this tragic period of hardship, a magnificent synagogue with magnificent mosaics was built on the top of the hill, and the settlement here began an era of long-lasting prosperity.”
“The discovery of the rare hoard of coins in the Hukok hiding complex is a living testimony to the determination of the Jews of the Galilee and their ongoing struggle to maintain their identity and traditional Jewish lifestyle even in difficult times under the Roman rule,” said Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu. “Finds of this type connect us directly to the lives of our ancestors, and remind us of the depth of our historical roots here.”
