The “Eleazar the Priest” Coin. a bunch of grapes is surrounded by the text “Year One of the Redemption of Israel” in ancient Hebrew script. Photo: Oriya Amichay, Israel Antiquities Authority
Israeli archeologists uncovered a rare coin from the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (2nd century CE) engraved with the name of “Eleazar the Priest” in ancient Hebrew script. The coin is dated to the first year of the revolt, 132 CE and was discovered with three other coins from the time of the Revolt in the Mazuq Ha-he’teqim Nature Reserve in the course of the Judean Desert Cave Survey carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The coin bears the inscription “Year One of the Redemption of Israel.
The archeologists explained that it is not clear who the Eleazar mentioned was, but there are a few possibilities regarding his identity. One is Rabbi Eleazar Hamod‘ai, a Tannaic Rabbi 9the authors of the Mishna) 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).
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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.
Excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Judean Desert. The public is invited. Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority
This is just the latest such discovery made in Israel, where archeological items seem to be uncovered every day now. In February alone, an everyday person in Israel, a hiker, discovered an ancient and rare Assyrian amulet in Israel’s Nahal Tabor Nature Reserve in the Lower Galilee and architectural remains of the 1,800-year-old Roman VIth ‘Ferrata’ Iron Legion military base were uncovered in an excavation carried out by at the foot of Tel Megiddo (near Haifa), close to the ancient Kfar Othnay village (Greek: Capercotnai).
In addition, a “rare enigmatic” stone box from the Second Temple period, about 2,200 years ago, was discovered in Israel in February. The box was discovered during Israel Antiquities Authority excavations in the City of David in Jerusalem.
