The Ophel treasure is a 1400 years old collection of 36 gold coins and a large gold medallion discovered in 2013 on the foot of
Jerusalem's Temple Mount
The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compoun ...
by archeologist
Eilat Mazar
Eilat Mazar ( he, אילת מזר; 10 September 195625 May 2021) was an Israeli archaeologist. She specialized in Jerusalem and Phoenician archaeology. She was also a key person in Biblical archaeology noted for her discovery of the Large Stone ...
. The medallion is engraved with
Jewish symbols
The Hebrew language, Hebrew word for 'symbol' is , which, in early Judaism, denoted not only a sign, but also a visible religious token of the relation between God and human.
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Common iconography
Shabbat
Shabbat, the day of rest, is des ...
like a seven branched
menorah, a
shofar
A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the ...
and a
Torah scroll
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...
.
Dating
Mazar dated her findings to the Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 CE.
After the Persians conquered Jerusalem, many Jews returned to the city and formed the majority of its population. According to Lior Sandberg, numismatics specialist at the Institute of Archaeology. "The 36 gold coins can be dated to the reigns of different Byzantine emperors, ranging from the middle of the fourth century CE to the early seventh century CE“The cache was abandoned most probably after the Persian conquest of Jerusalem and after the Persians changed their attitude to the Jews and allowed their expulsion from the city. The fact that the gold was not properly hidden nor taken back attests to the tragic circumstances that led to its abandonment.” Sandberg wrote.
Significance
The menorah, a candelabrum with seven branches, is the national symbol of the state of Israel and one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish faith Mazar said: “We have been making significant finds from the
First Temple Period
The history of ancient Israel and Judah begins in the Southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. "Israel" as a people or tribal confederation (see Israelites) appears for the first time in the Merneptah Stele, an inscripti ...
in this area, a much earlier time in Jerusalem’s history, so discovering a golden seven-branched Menorah from the seventh century CE at the foot of the Temple Mount was a complete surprise.” Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
called the treasure "a magnificent discovery." He also said, "It attests to the ancient Jewish presence and to the sanctity of this place... This is historic testimony, of the highest order, to the Jewish people's link to Jerusalem, to its land and to its heritage."
The Ophel-Treasure can now be seen on exhibition in the
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
Jerusalem.
See also
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Archaeology of Israel
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultu ...
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Cities of the Ancient Near East
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
*
Givati Parking Lot dig
The Givati Parking Lot dig is an archaeological excavation located in Silwan. It is adjacent to the City of David archaeological site. The dig was conducted by Doron Ben-Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwrit ...
, immediately southwest of the Ophel, where a gold hoard was found which was also hidden right before the 614 Persian invasion
References
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Medieval Jerusalem
Archaeology of Israel
Archaeology of the Near East
Coin hoards