Monday, March 13, 2023

Temple menorah coin on display in Jerusalem

NUMISMATICS: Coin with oldest depiction of Temple menorah displayed for first time. New renovation of the Davidson Center in Jerusalem utilizes interactive tech and augmented reality to highlight history and archaeology of Temple-era Jerusalem (Melanie Lidman, Times of Israel).
The coin dates to around 40 BCE, during the Roman times and the reign of the last Hasmonean king. “This is the oldest known artistic depiction of the menorah, created 107 years before the destruction of the Second Temple,” says Dr. Yuval Baruch, head of archaeology and administration at the Israel Antiquities Authority, who was one of the excavators of the site and led the archaeological curation of the Davidson Center. The coin was donated to Israel sometime during the 1940s, during the British Mandate period, and it’s unclear where or when it was found.
That is, it's unprovenanced. Just saying.

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