2017-01-09 Mon

The Maccabean revolt was triggered by Antiochus who made draconian decrees resulting in the victory of the Maccabees and the reclamation of the Temple.

Excavations are going on at the courtyard of Jerusalem’s Tower of David for the last 30 years. Recently, a metallic item was found near the Hasmonean wall that separates the citadel’s courtyard into two. After further inspection, it was identified as a bronze-leaf cent of Jerusalem, worth 10 agorot back then, during the times of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Ballista stones and iron arrowheads were found at the site earlier. These discoveries talk about the battles that took place in Jerusalem when the city fought for independence against the Seleucids.

The coin features a portrait of Antiochus on one side and a goddess wrapped in a scarf on the other side. Experts state that these coins, dated between 172 and 168 BCE were probably minted in Acre, on Israel that was once called Antiochia Ptolemais, after Ptolemy.