<< <i>Despite the importance of the half-shekel head-tax for the economy of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period, only seven other Tyrian shekels and half shekels were heretofore found in the excavations in Jerusalem. >>
I find that difficult to believe. I mean, I've seen photographs of huge earthenware JARS of those being found. Maybe not in Jerusalem, though. Maybe not in those particular excavations, but I'm sure they come up. I don't think they're especially rare coins- maybe somebody can correct me if I'm wrong. I mean, I've seen handfuls of them in cases at shows, too. I think the article is being a bit free with the term "rare", but it's interesting nevertheless.
If I lived anywhere along the Mediterranean basin, you'd have a hard time keeping my nose out of the dirt.
Archaeology has three problems when we're talking about Jerusalem:
1. Jerusalem provides relatively few ancient artefacts compared to, say, Ephesus or Pompeii, because Jerusalem is still an inhabited city. All the really interesting archaeological sites are buried under people's houses, churches, mosques etc. where the archaeologists can't get at them.
2. Unfortunately, archaeology in the holy land has effectively been forced to "take sides" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Any archaeological expeditions funded by Israeli institutions, aimed at or which could potentially provide evidence for Israel's claims to ancient Jewish habitation in (and therefore Israeli inheritance of) Jerusalem or the occupied territories, is often seen as provocation by the Palestinians. On the other side, Palestinian archaeology is either underfunded or nonexistent and likely to be obstructed by the Israeli authorities.
3. Laws preventing private ownership and sale of antiquities mean that any coins found privately in Jerusalem (by, say, somebody digging out a basement or reconstructing a house) are likely to be "looted" (smuggled out of the country secretly) rather than being properly handed over to the archaeological authorities.
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one. Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
seemyauction
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<< <i>Despite the importance of the half-shekel head-tax for the economy of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period, only seven other Tyrian shekels and half shekels were heretofore found in the excavations in Jerusalem. >>
I find that difficult to believe. I mean, I've seen photographs of huge earthenware JARS of those being found. Maybe not in Jerusalem, though. Maybe not in those particular excavations, but I'm sure they come up. I don't think they're especially rare coins- maybe somebody can correct me if I'm wrong. I mean, I've seen handfuls of them in cases at shows, too. I think the article is being a bit free with the term "rare", but it's interesting nevertheless.
If I lived anywhere along the Mediterranean basin, you'd have a hard time keeping my nose out of the dirt.
1. Jerusalem provides relatively few ancient artefacts compared to, say, Ephesus or Pompeii, because Jerusalem is still an inhabited city. All the really interesting archaeological sites are buried under people's houses, churches, mosques etc. where the archaeologists can't get at them.
2. Unfortunately, archaeology in the holy land has effectively been forced to "take sides" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Any archaeological expeditions funded by Israeli institutions, aimed at or which could potentially provide evidence for Israel's claims to ancient Jewish habitation in (and therefore Israeli inheritance of) Jerusalem or the occupied territories, is often seen as provocation by the Palestinians. On the other side, Palestinian archaeology is either underfunded or nonexistent and likely to be obstructed by the Israeli authorities.
3. Laws preventing private ownership and sale of antiquities mean that any coins found privately in Jerusalem (by, say, somebody digging out a basement or reconstructing a house) are likely to be "looted" (smuggled out of the country secretly) rather than being properly handed over to the archaeological authorities.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.