Significant Bar Kokhba revolt coin found

[guy]

 

A coin from the Bar Kokhba revolt, dating from AD 132 (the first year of the revolt), was found at the bottom of cliffs currently undergoing excavation by Israeli archaeologists in the Judean Desert. 

 

 

 

The rare coin with the inscription "Eleazar the Priest."Credit: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority

 

The other side of the coin, featuring a cluster of grapes and the optimistic inscription "Year 1 of the redemption of Israel."

 

This coin and three others were found during the excavation:

 

 

Quote

 

A rare coin from the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, bearing the name  of  “Eleazar the Priest”, and dated to the first year of the revolt (132 CE), was discovered in the Mazuq Ha-he'teqim Nature Reserve. The coin was discovered together with three other coins from the time of the Revolt, bearing the name  “Simeon”. The coin was discovered in the course of the Judean Desert 

There are a few possibilities regarding the identity of Eleazar the Priest, whose name appears on the coin. One is Rabbi Eleazar Hamod‘ai, a Tannaic Rabbi from the time of Rabbi Akiva, a pupil of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai. It seems that Rabbi Eleazar Hamod‘ai played a significant religious role at the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, and he was living in the town of Beitar— the location of the revolt headquarters. The Talmud accounts that he died in Beitar, probably during the Revolt. (Jerusalem Talmud Ta‘anit 4:5).

On the obverse face of the coin, a date palm is engraved, with the inscription “Eleazar the Priest” inscribed in ancient Hebrew script. On the reverse, a bunch of grapes is surrounded by the text “Year One of the Redemption of Israel”, again in ancient Hebrew script.  

 

 

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2024-03-04/ty-article/rare-coin-naming-bar-kochba-leader-eleazer-the-priest-found-in-judean-desert/0000018e-089e-d5ee-a78e-38de5ddd0000

 

 

Other recent finds during excavation in the caves includes Roman swords:

 

 

 

Edited March 4 by guy