JERUSALEM: A nearly 2,000-year-old coin from the Roman period in ancient Israel was discovered about 15 km west of Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Wednesday.
The coin was found by two 12-year-old boys who were hiking at the Beit Itab ancient ruins site in the Jerusalem mountains, said Xinhua.
It was minted in Jerusalem during the time of Herod Agrippa, who was the Roman-Jewish king of Judea between 41 and 44 AD.
On the obverse side of the coin a royal canopy appears next to the inscription “Agrippa the King” in Greek, while on the reverse side, three grain stalks appear.
Most of the remains previously discovered at the site date to the later Crusader and Ottoman periods.
Moreover, agricultural facilities and pottery were also found at the site, indicating an earlier settlement from about 2,000 years ago, with the newly discovered coin joining this ancient evidence, the IAA noted. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
