Posted on 07/22/2014 3:04:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The highlight of the excavation was the discovery of a Judea Capta coin, which was minted by Roman Emporor Domitian during his reign of 81 96 CE in honor of the conquest of Judea and the destruction of Jersusalem in 70 CE by his father, Vespasian, and brother, Titus.
Christie Cobb, a doctoral student at Drew University in New Jersey, discovered the coin. There are only 48 other versions of this coin that have been found, and fewer still at Biblical sites such as Bethsaida.
The coin confirms other ceramic data about the date of the large Roman period building we have been excavating for the past several years, explained Carl Savage, Ph.D., an archeologist at the Bethsaida excavation site and director of Doctor of Ministry program at Drew University. The coin also connects Bethsaida with the great importance that the Roman Empire placed on the quelling of the revolt in Judea and Galilee. Coupled with the other finds it makes for interesting speculation about who may have occupied the building.
Researchers also found a Hellenistic oil lamp with a depiction of a bearded man that could possibly be Dionysus or Silenus, two nocturnal figures from Greco-Roman mythology, as well as a Babylonian cylinder seal made out of black stone.
It was in 1987 that Arav discovered the site of Bethsaida, a city that was founded in the 10th century BCE, served as the capital of Geshur, a Biblical city that was destroyed by conquest in 732 BCE. Bethsaida is also said to the home village of some of Jesus apostles, specifically Peter, Andrew and Philip. The city was eventually deserted due to a geological disaster in the 4th century CE.
(Excerpt) Read more at unomaha.edu ...
For the record, no one had a gun to your head to come on in and read it.
:’) It’s really rare to find either coins or precious metals, especially when compared with things that (ahem) seem less remarkable, such as a billion tons of ancient and even prehistoric pottery, and stone tools and ‘warheads’ — but it’s all that glitters that really attracts the attention and brings people into the museums in record numbers. So, I’m all for it. :’)
I’m free to object to revisionist nonsense where ever I find it.
Don’t expect a welcome mat.
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