Archaeologists Shocked by Rare Find in Jerusalem

Archaeologists in Jerusalem could barely contain their excitement when they came across an extremely rare find. So, how does this discovery change the way we see a mysterious period in Zion's history a few hundred years before the birth of Jesus? Well, Israeli tour guide Yoav Rotem joins us now. So, before we get into why this is so significant, what is it? Shalom, Raj. So, first of all, it's a coin. It's a golden coin, a drachma, that was found in the excavation happening at the city of David, right outside of the current Old City of today. It's a coin that is very rare. From 2,200 years ago, we know exactly who created it and where in Egypt. Egypt, after Alexander the Great, was ruled by what we call the Ptolemaic House, and it has the image of Bernice II. So, we know exactly the time of it. And on the other side, we have what's called the Horns of Fertility. It's a corny cow. It's something like that. It's a very, very high, very rare find. The only one that was found out of Egypt. And this actually brings us to maybe the importance of the finding, along with the golden and the quality of it. So, okay, so that's the question. Is, you know, a lot is known about Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. Obviously, you have the Gospels, you have Josephus, and then, you know, a lot is known in the first Temple times from, you know, different sources. Obviously, the Bible, Isaiah, that kind of thing. But there's this mysterious Hellenistic period that many people just don't even know what was really happening in Jerusalem at the time. So, again, why is this specific coin such a big deal? So, this time period, as you mentioned, is kind of almost like dark in the history of Jerusalem. There aren't too many sources mentioning Jerusalem. Let's give it a little quick timeline of this, so people will understand where are we standing in the time. So, the first Temple destroyed in 586 BC, and then the Jews are being exiled by the Babylonians to Babylon, and they start to return about 70 years later with the Persian taking over the Babylonians, Ezra and Nehemiah period. Actually, this is the empty page people have between the Old Testament and the New Testament time, kind of like 400 years of one page. And this time, as I said, Alexander the Great is coming to the region and takes over, and then he splits his regime into two centers, to Syria and to Egypt. Each one has his officers, and in Egypt we have the Ptolemaic House, the Seleucids in Syria. They later on will take over Israel, and the holiday of Hanukkah will happen under the Seleucid attack from Syria. But this is a time that we know, a bit before 2200 years, that the Egyptians control Jerusalem, and we barely knew anything. You know, people say, you know, later on the Second Temple Era, we know Jerusalem was in glory. It was the first wall Josephus mentioned, the second wall, the third wall, very big. We have archaeology, but the time before is kind of like, ah, not too much. And the finding of a coin, a golden coin, shows us that Jerusalem was not just someone important, someone with ability to carry this coin, was there, and it's actually just one little coin added to much more pieces of information that are coming out of this amazing excavation of the Giv'ati parking lot. I still remember it was a parking lot. Today it's a big dig over there, and we find first temple things, crazy royal things, but also from that time, the time of the Ptolemaic regime controlling over Israel. And that's something big, showing us Jerusalem was not just a tiny, you know, little town, probably a more significant one. And maybe we'll have more and more information coming out. I love all these finds at the City of David, just adding to the understanding of what's happening in Jerusalem. And, you know, to me, I actually find this Hellenistic period really interesting. Obviously, you mentioned that this is where we get the holiday of Hanukkah, and, you know, one thing that I always grew up thinking, which I don't know why I thought this, was that Hanukkah and Christmas were somehow competing with each other. But if you look at the Gospels, Jesus actually was in Jerusalem for Hanukkah. I don't know how I missed that, and that's all happening in this time period. But the City of David in general, Yoav, to me is just, you know, the coolest place in all of Israel, because they're just finding thing after thing that just show the indigenous, long-standing presence of the Jewish people in the land of Israel. And so maybe in closing, Yoav, what do you think is the message of everything that they're finding at the City of David? First of all, it's the truth of the Bible. I mean, we find this, I made this movement, it's the finding merged together and fit exactly and perfectly to the scriptures. That's one thing. Second, it shows, sorry, I'm going back to my relationship with the land, shows my connection. I told you before, you know, when David created the city and then the destruction will come in the first century, that's when my family goes to, I mean, originally, my ancestors goes to Iraq. Later on, only in the 50s, they come back to Israel. And basically, the same community that was created by the exile, during the exile, starts to return. And that's actually the, for me, these are the roots of the re-establishing and the beginning of Jerusalem of the Hellenistic time. That's one little chapter that will grow and grow and grow to the Roman time, another destruction that will end up with our return after 2,000 years. And we see our roots over here. That's the significance. Thanks for coming on, my friend. Thank you.