Treasure Hoard Of Rare Gold Coins From The Crusader Conquest Discovered In Caesarea, Israel

Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - A marvelous hidden treasure consisting of rare gold coins and a 900-year-old gold earring has been unearthed at the port of Caesarea in Israel.

Once archaeologists saw the hoard it was clear this was no ordinary archaeological discovery. The ancient gold coins are very rare. In fact, they are so unusual they have never been seen in Israel before. However, it has to be added the owner of this treasure was not a lucky man, and there is reason to believe his life ended badly.

The town of Caesarea on Israel's Mediterranean coast includes a large Roman amphitheater and the historic port. To archaeologists, it is an interesting place where one can expect to find many valuable historical treasures.

Originally called Straton's Tower after its founder Straton, the history of Caesarea goes far back in time. The port is mentioned in the Bible and is today a major tourist attraction not only to foreigners but also rich Israeli who buy homes there. It was King Herod who renamed the town and turned it into a magnificent city at the time.

During an extensive excavation and conservation work in Caesarea conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and sponsored by The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation IL, archaeologists unearthed 18 Fatimid dinars that were well known from previous excavations in Caesarea where it was the standard local currency of the time. Scientists also found an extremely rare group of six Byzantine imperial gold coins. Five of the coins are concave and belong to the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Doukas (1071–1079)

The coins discovered in Caesarea. Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority

“The coins in the cache make it possible to link the treasure to the Crusader conquest of the city in the year 1101, one of the most dramatic events in the medieval history of the city.

According to contemporary written sources, most of the inhabitants of Caesarea were massacred by the army of Baldwin I (1100–1118), king of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. It is reasonable to assume that the treasure’s owner and his family perished in the massacre or were sold into slavery, and therefore were not able to retrieve their gold,” Dr. Robert Kool, a coin expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority explains.

Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority

At the center of the excavation and conservation activity of the multi-year Caesarea project, stands the impressive façade of the city’s ancient central public building. It was part of a sacred compound first built by Herod more than two millennia ago, as a tribute to his Roman patron, the emperor Augustus, and the goddess Roma. The newly discovered treasure was found in this area.

Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority

This important discovery was made close to the location of two other treasures of the same period. The first, a pot consisting of gold and silver jewelry, was discovered in the 1960s. The second, a collection of bronze vessels, was found in the 1990s.

See also: More Archaeology News

The new finding highlights the notion of Caesarea being a vibrant port city since its establishment 2,030 years ago. We hope to keep revealing more fascinating and exciting layers of its history.

Written by Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com Staff Writer