Coin collectors
Armstrong College students find ancient coins on a trip to Jerusalem.
Students from Armstrong College recently helped discover dozens of 2,000-year-old coins tied to a Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire.
The remarkable discovery of the rare coins was made during a three-month archaeological excavation in Jerusalem.
Six students from the Edmond college participated in the archaeological dig under the direction of Eilat Mazar, of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Armed with pickaxes, hoes, metal detectors and buckets, the group helped dig, photograph and document their findings from a cave near the base of the Temple Mount. Their discovery made the front pages of two newspapers in the Holy Land, the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel.
Justice Brown, an Armstrong College junior, said finding the coins after digging for hours each day was a dramatic part of an already adventurous trip. He said the students didn’t initially know what they had found, but a coin expert came and revealed the nature of their discovery.
“The coins were just a really exciting part of it,”
Brown said.
Other students who participated in the dig were George Haddad, Arianne Olsen, Warren Reinsch, Brianna Weeks and Rachel Grellet.
The students said they were able to see images like willow, citron, palm and myrtle — all Jewish symbols — on the coins.
The coin expert and Mazar linked the coins to a famous Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire, which led to the destruction of the Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The coins also featured ancient Hebrew script with phrases like “For the Freedom of the Zion.” They specifically dated from the second through fourth years of the rebellion.
The renewed Ophel Evacation efforts led by Mazar were preceded by other such excavations.
She has led the Ophel Excavations in the past, which have yielded discoveries such as King Solomon’s wall, the Menorah medallion, the seal impression from King Hezekiah and, most recently, the possible seal impression of the biblical prophet Isaiah.
Mazar talked about the recent discovery in a prepared statement.
“It’s not a usual phenomena that we can come to such a closed cave, untouched (for) 2,000 years, including the very last remains of life of the people who were sieged in Jerusalem, suffered in Jerusalem, ‘til the very last minute of the Second Temple period,” she said.
Bible comes to life
The Armstrong College students said they enjoyed being part of the excavation efforts and the trip to the Holy Land because all of it helped bring the Bible to life.
Brown said he remembered his grandfather regaling him with stories of his time spent at an archaeological dig many years ago, and those stories made Brown want to do the same. “Just seeing history come alive was really something,” he said. “Dr. Mazar’s motto is ‘Let the stones speak,’ and we did.”
The students said they took courses at the college and at a camp that helped them prepare for the excavation and their time in Jerusalem.
Reinsch said he found information he learned at an Armstrong College youth camp helpful, and traveling to the Holy Land “made it more real.”
Weeks said the excavation and trip lived up to their anticipation.
“We had heard about the dig for many years. Just growing up knowing about it and then getting to do it was amazing,” she said.
She also said she liked the physical labor involved in the excavation and putting her hands in the soil to uncover historical treasures.
Haddad said they looked through old history texts while they were digging, just trying to figure out what things meant. In addition to the coins, they also found pottery vessels like cooking pots and jars.
Mazar likened the cave where they were digging to a “time capsule” of Jewish life that hadn’t been disturbed since the Second Temple period.
Olsen said it was exciting to hear the “beep” of the metal detectors as they uncovered items like the coins.
Haddad said he liked visiting different sites in Jerusalem, particularly those that he read about in the Bible.
“The rich biblical history there was enticing, just getting to immerse yourself in the culture,” he said.
Shane Granger, the college’s marketing director, said the excursion marked the first time that the college and the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation of Edmond fully funded such a trip.