Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
The Israel Antiquities Authority has published this picture of a rare coin that was recently discovered in Ein Gedi. The half-shekel coin is made of silver and is nearly 2,000 years old, dating to the rebellion against Rome in 66-70 AD. On one side the words "Holy Jerusalem" are inscribed in ancient Hebrew letters together with three pomegranates. On the other side of the coin, there is a goblet with the letter "Aleph," signifying the first year of the rebellion, together with the "Half-Shekel" inscription. An aspect of the rebellion of the Jews was expressed in such coins, autonomously minted, since the Hebrew letters that appear were used at the time of the First Temple period several hundred years earlier, unlike the Greek letters that were in use during the Second Temple era.
A coin of this kind was typically brought to the Holy Temple, so what was it doing in Ein Gedi? Researchers surmise that it fell from the pocket of one of the rebels who was escaping to Ein Gedi from Jerusalem.Only now has that coin -- a legacy of our progenitors in the Land of Israel -- been picked up.
The significance of this find is not only archaeological. It is a precious greeting to all of us from the past, a reminder of Jerusalem as it once was, the Holy Temple, ancient Hebrew, rebellion and independence, the destruction of 2,000 years ago and the rebuilding of Jerusalem in our own time.
