Hanukkah coin hoard excavated

HANUKKAH NUMISMATICS: ‘Miracle’ hoard of Hasmonean coins discovered during Hanukkah in Jordan Valley dig. Haifa University team finds cache of 160 extremely rare coins – dated to 80/79 BCE, during the reign of Judah Maccabee’s grand-nephew – near Alexandrion Fortress, north of Jericho (Gavriel Fiske, Times of Israel).

The coins were dated by experts to the reign of “King Alexander Jannaeus, whose Hebrew name was Jonathan… He reigned from 104–76 BCE. He was the son of Johanan Hyrcanus, [and] the grandson of Simon the Hasmonean (brother of Judah Maccabee),” the statement said, noting that the Alexandrion Fortress, near where the coins were discovered, was built by Jannaeus.

One of the archaeologists manifested the coin hoard with Hanukkah Gelt. Really, that's what it says.

Happy Hanukkah!

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.