Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered a small jug over 1,000 years old. The jug in question contained four gold coins, equivalent to four month’s salary for a common laborer at that time. Despite being over a thousand years old, the coins, according to a coin expert, were perfectly preserved, and did not even need to be cleaned to be identified.
Archaeologists discovered the hidden loot while surveying a site prior to the construction of an elevator to the Western Wall Plaza, a historic public square in Jerusalem's Old City. Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) inspector Yevgenia Kapil found the juglet, a clay vessel not much bigger than a coffee cup. Weeks later, excavation director David Gellman, an IAA archaeologist, upended the juglet into his hand and was shocked when a handful of coins came out with the dirt.
"This is the first time in my career as an archaeologist that I have discovered gold, and it is tremendously exciting," Gellman said in a statement.
The coins were exciting not simply because they were gold, but also because they made it easy to determine the age of the treasure cache. They all dated to between the years 940 and 970, according to the IAA. This era was one of major political change, when the Shiite Fatimid dynasty conquered Egypt, Syria and Israel, all which had previously been under the rule of the Sunni Abbasid dynasty.
More details about this discovery over at Live Science.
(Image Credit: Dafna Gazit/Israel Antiquities Authority/ Live Science)
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More likely a swear jar.
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It wouldn't be a piggy bank. They're not kosher.
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