Gold Coins Discovered Near Tel Aviv

[Bimat]

Gold coins discovered near Israel

Updated: 21:45, Tuesday July 10, 2012

A collection of gold coins was discovered in a cache at the Mediterranean shore near Tel Aviv in Israel last week.

The 108 coins, which dates back to the Mamluk age, were found in a dig at the Apollonia National Park.

'In one of the rooms that we excavated we found a gold coin hoard. The hold was basically with coins from the Fatimi period, which are earlier, some 250 years before the crusaders ruled the country,' Professor Oren Tal from Tel Aviv University told Reuters.

He adds that the finding is rare within the archaeology of Israel.

'We don't have that many circulation of gold especially hoard's gold from the crusader period.'

Tel Aviv University and the Nature and Parks Authority are working together on the dig to identify ruins of a crusader fortress on the Mediterranean coastline.



Source: Sky News

[Figleaf]

Tel Aviv is a modern city, but nearby Jaffa is very old. Maybe the fortress was to protect it from a seaborne attack. Makes you wonder why the treasure was abandoned.

Peter

[akona20]

The information is a little scattered. Are they Fatamid or Mamluk and what are the dates on the coins?

[Figleaf]

They are fatimid. More information, photos and a video clip here. It's worth digging holes in the ground in inhuman temperatures.

Peter