Coins from Alexander the Great era found in Israel cave
- Published: Mar 9, 2015, 7 AM
2,300-year-old treasure from the era of Alexander the Great has been found in a cave: http://t.co/7kXDRfKUZh pic.twitter.com/Sx4zbY2GDZ
— CNN (@CNN) March 9, 2015
First it was a diving club, now it's a spelunking club.
Members of the Israeli Caving Club discovered a trove of 2,000-year-old treasures, including a pair of silver coins, in a cave in northern Israel recently, according to CNN.
The coins date to the time of Alexander the Great, who ruled the region beginning in the late 4th century B.C.
Jerusalem Post reports that bronze coins were also part of the find made by three spelunkers. Jewelry including rings, bracelets and earrings were also found in the cave.
After the men told the Israel Antiquities Authority about their find, a return expedition turned up further artifacts. "After analyzing the findings in IAA’s laboratory, archeologists determined that some of the artifacts date back to the Chalcolithic period 6,000 years ago, Early Bronze Age 5,000 years ago, Biblical period 3,000 years ago, and the Hellenistic period, approximately 2,300 years ago," the Jerusalem Post report reads.
It is the second time in the last few weeks that a notable find reported to the IAA has made headlines.
Members of a diving club came across what turned out to be a hoard of nearly 2,000 gold coins from the 11th century Fatimid period in an ancient harbor at Israel's Caesarea National Park.
That was the largest gold hoard discovery ever reported in Israel.
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