A SPECIFIC MOMENT IN TIME
When coins are studied in the context of where they were found they may tell a long-forgotten story. This appears to be true of 44 gold and additional bronze coins recently discovered in an ancient wall in what today is the Hermon River Nature Preserve in northern Israel.
The coins were found during a salvage excavation of the Paneas or Banias. During the Second Temple period Banias was important to that region. The coins were discovered during excavations funded by the Israel Electric Corporation meant to connect the ancient Druze holy site of Maqam Nabi Khadr to the national electricity grid. Maqam Nabi Khad is a site sacred to the Druze sect.
According to the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA), excavations at this site have also uncovered ruins of buildings, water channels and pipes, a pottery kiln, pottery fragments, and glass and metal artifacts. The earlier Canaanites built a shrine to the pagan god Ba’al at Banias. Banias’ earlier name of Paneas is meant to honor the pagan god Pan. In 2020 an altar with Greek inscription translating to “Atheneon son of Sosipatros of Antioch is dedicating the altar to the god Pan Heliopolitanos. He built the altar using his own personal money pursuant to a vow he made” was found at Banias. The altar was later repurposed as a brick in the wall of a Byzantine church.
Banias is significant to Christians as the place where Jesus said to his apostle Peter, “On this rock I will build my church.”
According to IAA information, some of the coins found in the wall were minted in the name of Byzantine Emperor Phocas (602–610 A.D.) or in the name of his successor Heraclius (610–641). Phocas was executed by Heraclius “the Elder of Carthage,” who then succeeded him as the next emperor. Although an exact number was not given there were more gold coins of Heraclius in the find. Details about the bronze coins accompanying the gold were not available at the time this article was written.
The most significant thing to be observed from the find is the later coins of Heraclius are dated to the time of the Umayyad Caliphate conquests in 635.
According to dig site director Yoav Lerer, the “discovery reflects a specific moment in time. We can imagine the owner concealing his fortune in the threat of war, hoping to return one day to retrieve his property. In retrospect, we know that he was less fortunate. The discovery of the coin hoard may also shed light on the economy of the city of Banias during the last 40 years of Byzantine rule.”
According to IAA numismatist Gabriela Bichovsky, “What is particularly interesting about them is that early in the emperor’s [Heraclius] reign you see only his image on the coin, but soon images of his family members join him. You can actually see his sons’ growth process on the coins from childhood until they appear on the coin at the same height as their father, who is depicted with a long beard.”
Gold solidus coins of Heraclius were struck at Alexandria, Carthage, possibly at Carthagena, Cherson, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Ravenna, Sicily, Thessalonica, and at an uncertain mint or mints. Bronze minor denomination coins
