Coin from 4th-year of Great Revolt found in drain

ARCHAEOLOGY AND NUMISMATICS: Rare Coin From Fourth Year of Jewish Revolt Found in Ancient Jerusalem Drain. Engraved in paleo-Hebrew, the coin was found in debris from City of David excavations and seems to have been lost by a rebel hiding from Titus in the sewers (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

LIke others minted in the year 69, the coin found now bears the words “For the Redemption of Zion” in ancient Hebrew lettering, and a depiction of a chalice. Its other side depicts the so-called “four species” and the words “Year Four.” That is taken to refer to the final year of rebellion against the Romans, when Simon Bar Giora took over the leadership. Previously the Jews had been led by John of Giscala.

The coin could have been lost and fallen into the drainage system through cracks of the stone-paved road, said Eli Shukron, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority. Or, the money could have fallen from the pocket of a Jewish rebel hiding in the drains below Jerusalem.

Several years ago a hoard of bronze coins from the fourth year of the Great Revolt was excavated near Jerusalem. And a couple of years ago a silver fourth-year shekel went up for auction, but was not sold. I don't know what became of it after that. And for that discovery of an oil lamp and some cooking pots in a cistern connected to an ancient Jerusalem drainage channel, see here.

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