(Photo By: Nir Distelfeld/Israel Antiquities Authority)
By: Rossella Tercatin - February 9, 2021
Some 1,800-years ago, a traveler was making his way through the Carmel area and a coin fell from his pocket. Almost two millennia later, the artifact was found by an Israeli soldier during a training exercise, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday.
“This coin joins only eleven such coins from known locations in the National Treasures Department collection. All the coins were found in northern Israel, from Megiddo and Tzipori to Tiberias and Arbel,” Dr Donald Tzvi Ariel, head of the IAA’s Numismatics Department, said.
The artifact bears images and text that allowed researchers to precisely identify its origin and dating: One of its sides reads: “of the people of Geva Phillipi”, [civic] year 217 (158–159 CE) together with the image of the Syrian moon god, Men. The other face carries the portrait of Roman emperor Antonius Pius.
“The coin discovered is one of the municipal coins minted in the city of Geva Philippi, also known as Geva Parashim,” Dr Avner Ecker, lecturer in classical archaeology at Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, explained.
Read More: Jerusalem Post