Ariel D.T. 2014. The Coins from Area J. In H. Geva. Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of...

JEWISH QUARTEREXCAVATIONS

IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEMconducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969–1982

Volume VI: Areas J, N, Z and Other StudiesFINAL REPORT

Hillel Geva

With contributions by:D.T. Ariel, M. Avissar, D. Ben-Shlomo, A. Berman, N. Brosh, G. Finkielsztejn,

M. Hershkovitz, Y. Israeli, J. Magness, H.K. Mienis, R. Nenner-Soriano,Y. Rapuano, R. Rosenthal-Heginbottom, O. Sion, I. Yezerski

ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETYINSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM 2014

CHAPTER EIGHT (A)

COINS FROM AREA J

Donald T. Ariel

Area J yielded 551 coins, all bronze or copper-

alloy, of which 298 were identifiable (Ariel

Berman identified No. 298). An index of the coins

according to locus appears in Table 8(A).1.

The high percentage of unidentifiable coins

derives from the fact that not all the material under-

went laboratory cleaning. Of the 253 unidentifiable

coins, only 25 were cleaned. The decision to

reduce the number of coins to be cleaned derived

from the very high proportion of “probably

Jannaeus” and “possibly Jannaeus” coins dis-

cerned in Area E (Ariel 2006: 192), and prelimi-

nary examination of the Area J coins (not yet

cleaned), which suggested that the overwhelming

majority were, based upon considerations of

fabric, also likely to be “probably Jannaeus” or

“possibly Jannaeus”. This decision corresponds

with the policy adopted in this volume to present

only selected finds, owing to the extensive publica-

tion of very similar finds from other areas in the

Jewish Quarter (e.g., adjacent Area E and nearby

Area B). As a result, in the following report of Area

J, only 118 of the “probably Jannaeus” and “possi-

bly Jannaeus” coins are presented, instead of well

over 300 such coins that were probably found

there. This selectivity applies to the coin finds from

Area N as well (Chapter Eight (B)). As with the

rest of this volume, readers are encouraged to refer

to the already published coin reports of Areas E

and B (Ariel 2006; 2010).

No coins were found in contexts of Stratum 5

(Hellenistic–Hasmonean; late 3rd–2nd centuries

BCE). This stratum is represented by one, or possi-

bly two, cisterns (L.1373, L.1380), although the

association of L.1373 to the stratum is tentative, as

this cistern was filled with debris of Stratum 4 (see

Chapter One (A)). Elsewhere in Area J, only one

coin dates to the early period of Stratum 5, the 3rd

century BCE.1 It is a coin of Ptolemy III (No. 1,

246–222 BCE) that was found in a locus of Stra-

tum 3. In fact, this type has recently been

reattributed from Ptolemy II to Ptolemy III (Lorber

2007–2008: 20). From my experience, a signifi-

cant number of Ptolemaic coins in the southern

Levant are worn, suggesting that they circulated

for long periods (No. 1 is not worn). At sites where

these coins are found with no — or almost no —

earlier Ptolemaic coins, and with high numbers of

coins of Antiochus III and IV, it is likely that the

Ptolemy III coins arrived at the sites in the period

of Seleucid hegemony. This may apply here, and

possibly also to the three Ptolemaic coins found in

the adjacent Area E (Ariel 2006: 203, Nos. 1–3),

which were also not found in contexts of the 3rd–

2nd centuries. The suggestion that many Ptolemaic

coins are to be associated with contexts later than

the 3rd century BCE, if accepted, is noteworthy, as

the absence of coins in or relating to Stratum 5 par-

allels the near absence of coins in Stratum 8 at the

City of David,2 perhaps the only other context in

Jerusalem dating to the 3rd century BCE (De Groot

and Bernick-Greenberg 2012: 177).

The remains of Stratum 4 (Late Hasmonean–

Early Roman; 1st century BCE) include fragmen-

tary architecture and mostly fills, as intensive con-

struction in the subsequent Stratum 3 removed

most of the earlier stratum. The coin finds from

Stratum 4, besides the Ptolemy III coin (No. 1,

residual in Stratum 3) noted above, comprise one

Hasmonean coin of Hyrcanus I (No. 10) and 10 of

Jannaeus (or his successors; Nos. 65, 71, 77–78,

102, 115–116, 154, 182, 221). This compares to the

[ 243 ]

numismatic profile in Stratum 4 of adjacent Area

E, where the coins were predominantly

Hasmonean, most of them struck by Jannaeus (or

his successors), while others were early types of

Herod (Ariel 2006: Nos. 767, 787–788, 790), and

two were autonomous, 1st century BCE coins

(Ariel 2006: Nos. 809–810). The absence of coins

of Herod in Stratum 4 of Area J does not imply that

any change is necessary in the dating of the stratum

as a counterpart to the stratum of the same number

in Area E, as the ratios are roughly the same. In

Area E, four coins of Herod were found in Stratum

4 and 41 in Stratum 3 (Ariel 2006: 192, Table 8.2),

while in Area J the numbers are 0 and 13, respec-

tively; therefore, the absence of coins of Herod in

Stratum 4 of Area J is insignificant.

Despite the above-mentioned absence in Stratum

4, Herod’s coins nevertheless reflect the same high

numbers in the overall assemblage, relative to

other coin groups (Ariel and Fontanille 2012: 157),

as also evidenced in Area E and even in Area N,

although the numbers of coins in the last area are

altogether small. In Area J, as in Area E, a low per-

centage of coins of the anchor/double cornucopias

type (TJC, No. 59; Ariel and Fontanille 2012: 63,

Type 15) is seen (Nos. 278–279), relative to other

Herodian types, and a high percentage of the single

cornucopia/eagle type (TJC, No. 66; Ariel and

Fontanille 2012, Type 16). The other types of

Herodian coins in Area J are those considered ear-

lier than these two types. The only later type,

depicting anchor and galley (TJC, No. 65; Ariel

and Fontanille 2012, Type 17) is absent in Areas E,

J, B and N. In fact, the anchor/galley type appears

only once in Jerusalem, in nearby Area W of the

Jewish Quarter, north of Area J (Gitler 2003: 463,

No. 305).

The coins retrieved in Stratum 3 of Area J are

similar in profile to the same stratum in adjacent

Area E. I have briefly discussed these coins from

Stratum 3 in Area J, found in Miqweh L.1364 along

with a unique assemblage of glass-workshop

refuse (Israeli and Katsnelson 2006: 412). At that

time, the coins of Area J had not been fully pro-

cessed, so the numbers diverge significantly from

those in this final report.3 Nevertheless, the well-

identified coins are still to be associated with Alex-

ander Jannaeus (104–76 BCE; three are

Hasmonean coins whose rulers are of uncertain

identification), and the relative frequencies of the

various types have not changed (see Table 8A.1:

L.1359, L.1364, L.1366). In the previous discus-

sion, I concluded that the absence of coins of

Herod in the fill of the miqweh suggested that the

assemblage was unlikely to date to Herod’s reign.

Based upon this, Israeli and Katsnelson concluded

that the numismatic evidence indicated that the

assemblage “should be dated to the mid-1st cen-

tury BCE or even slightly earlier” (Israeli and

Katsnelson 2006: 412; italics mine). However, my

remarks would actually indicate a date up until

Herod struck his first coins in the summer of 37

BCE (Ariel and Fontanille 2012: 97).

The glass debitage was first dated by Avigad,

who proposed that the date of the assemblage fell

between 75 BCE (the abandonment of Tel Anafa)

and Herod’s reign, and although he knew that

Jannaeus coins “had a lengthy lifetime”, he sug-

gested a mid-1st century BCE date “to be on the

safe side” (Avigad 1983: 191). However, new sci-

entific research (employing Cu and Pb isotopic

analysis) has indicated that many of the Jannaeus

coins of the types in the assemblage were, in fact,

struck after the king’s death, “most likely between

67 and 40 BCE”, and (owing to historical consider-

ations) possibly even between 63 and 43 BCE

(Bower et al. 2012). While the excavators concur

that the ceramics in the fill of Miqweh L.1364 are

slightly earlier than the rest of Stratum 3, neverthe-

less, considering (1) the above suggestion that the

assemblage could date as late as 37 BCE, (2) the

dating in general of Stratum 3 in Area E to within

Herod’s reign (based upon a variety of chronologi-

cal indicators), and (3) the fact that coins in

Miqweh L.1364 played a critical role in dating it,

the assemblage of glass-workshop refuse could, in

my opinion, also date slightly later than the mid-

1st century BCE.4 Of course, this slight change

does not diminish in the slightest, the importance

of the glass assemblage as the earliest evidence for

glass-blowing, prior to the appearance of that tech-

nique in Rome (Gorin-Rosen 2006: 257).

Very few coins date later than the laying of the

Herodian Pavement 1600 in Stratum 2, roughly

dated to the end of the 1st century BCE (Herod’s

reign). This small number of coins from Stratum 2

[ 244 ]

D O N A L D T . A R I E L

is probably due to the fact that the upper layers

above the pavement were removed by mechanical

equipment (see Chapter One (A)). Three coins

(Nos. 293–295; 67/8 CE) of the Jewish War were

found in L.1320, defined as Strata 3 or 2, although

they must be associated with material deposited

after the laying of the Herodian pavement (Stratum

1b). These coins join the 45 Jewish War coins from

Area B (Ariel 2010: 242–243, Nos. 51–95), the

eight coins from Area E (Ariel 2006: 211–212,

Nos. 819–826), and the four coins from Area N

(Chapter Eight (B), Nos. 19–22), evidence of the

destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

An autonomous bronze of Dora struck in 64/5

CE (No. 292), also derives from L.1320, in the

same context as the Jewish War coins. One may

ask (as I did in 2010, see Ariel 2010:237), if such a

coin circulated in Jerusalem before and during the

Jewish War, or if it was deposited here only at the

time of the city’s destruction. This coin may have

arrived in the Jewish Quarter with one of the city’s

Roman besiegers. Two other Dora coins, dating

three and four years later than No. 292, have been

excavated in Jerusalem, one in the northerly Area

A of the Jewish Quarter excavations (68/9 CE;

Gitler 2003: 465, No. 355) and the second in the

Southern Wall excavations (67/8 CE; Meshorer,

unpublished manuscript, No. 117). Another coin of

Dora, apparently dating to 66/7 CE, was found in a

small purse(?) hoard at Tell el-Ful, probably to be

associated with a besieger (Bijovsky 2007: 71, n.

7; Ariel, Barukh and Zilberbod, forthcoming).

[ 245 ]

C H A P T E R E I G H T ( A ) : C O I N S F R O M A R E A J

Table 8(A).1 Area J, index of coin identifications according to locus

Locus (Str.) Qty. Minting Authority Notes (TJC No., mint if known andnot Jerusalem)

LocusTotal

1301 (Str. 3) 1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L8 3

1 Hasmonean (129–76 BCE) C or J

1 Herod (ca. 24–12 BCE) 66

1303 (Str. 3) 1 Antiochus VII (132/1–131/0 BCE) 73a 3

1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L8

1 Unidentifiable

1306 (Str. 4) 1 Jannaeus (104–80/79 BCE) K 1

1307 (Str. 3) 2 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L8, L7–14 4

2 Unidentifiable

1308 (Str. 2) 1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L8 9

1 Hasmonean

1 Unstruck flan

6 Unidentifiable

1309 (Str. 1b) 1 Herod (37 BCE) 44 15

3 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7–14

11 Unidentifiable

[ 246 ]



LocusTotal

1310 (Str. 3) 1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE) L1–6 42

32 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7, L8

2 Unstruck flans

1 Agrippa I (41/42) 120

6 Unidentifiable

1312 (Str. 3) 1 Unstruck flan 1


1315 (Str. 3) 1 Herod (37 BCE) 44 1



1 Herod (ca. 24–12 BCE) 59

1 Procurator under Nero (58/9 CE) 345

21 Unidentifiable

1318 (Str. 1b) 1 Hyrcanus I (129–105 BCE) B 1

1319 (Str. 3) 1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7–14 1

1320 (Str. 3–2) 1 Ptolemy III (246–222 BCE) Tyre 12

1 Hyrcanus I (129–105 BCE) B

3 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L9, L7–14

1 Herod (ca. 27–24 BCE) 60

1 Procurator under Nero (58/9 CE) 345

3 Jewish War (67/8 CE) 196

1 Autonomous (64/5 CE) Dora

1 Unidentifiable

1325 (Str. 1) 1 Shaªban II (1363–1377 CE) ¡alab 29

28 Unidentifiable

1329 (Str. 3–2) 1 Seleucid or Autonomous (222–98 BCE) 11

1 Jannaeus (104–80/79 BCE) K


1 Herod (ca. 27–24 BCE) 61

1 Herod (ca. 24–12 BCE) 66

1 Agrippa I (41/42) 120

4 Unidentifiable

[ 247 ]



LocusTotal

1331 (Str. 1b) 2 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7 5

1 Roman provincial (2nd–3rd ca. CE)

2 Unidentifiable

1333 (Str. 1b) 2 Unidentifiable 2


1 Herod (ca. 24–12 BCE) 66

4 Unidentifiable

1339 (Str. 3) 1 Seleucid (2nd ca. CE?) 9

4 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7, L8, L7–14

4 Unidentifiable

1340 (Str. 2) 1 Procurator under Nero? (58/9 CE?) 345 1


1 Unidentifiable

1342 (Str. 3) 1 Hasmonean 1

1344 (Str. 3) 1 Unidentifiable 1

1346 (Str. 3) 1 Hasmonean? 2

1 Unidentifiable



1 Unidentifiable

1352 (Str. 3) 1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L 3


1 Unidentifiable


19 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7, L9, L10, L7–14

1 Unstruck flan

1 Herod (ca. 27–24 BCE) 62

3 Herod (ca. 24–12 BCE) 66

1 Herod 54

1 Byzantine (6th ca. CE)

23 Unidentifiable

[ 248 ]



LocusTotal


7 Unidentifiable



1 Herod (ca. 24–12 BCE) 59

10 Unidentifiable

1358 (Str. 3) 1 Proto-Nabatean (3rd. ca. BCE) 45


2 Jannaeus (104–76 BCE) L1–7


1 Hasmonean

2 Herod (ca. 27–24 BCE) 61

1 Herod (ca. 24–12 BCE) 59

23 Unidentifiable

1359 (Str. 3) 2 Jannaeus (104–76 BCE) P 100


3 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE) L1–6

71 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7, L7–8, L8, L9, L10, L7–14

2 Hasmonean

20 Unidentifiable


3 Unidentifiable




1 Hasmonean

3 Unidentifiable

1366 (Str. 3) 3 Jannaeus (104–76 BCE) K–L, T 24

1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE) L6


3 Hasmonean

7 Unidentifiable

Catalogue of Coins from Area J

The catalogue is organized chronologically. Asterisked coins appear in Plate 8(A).1.

See following pages

[ 249 ]



LocusTotal

1369a (Str. 4) 1 Hyrcanus I (129–105 BCE) D 9


1 Unidentifiable




1380 (Str. 3) 1 Antiochus III (198–187 BCE) ªAkko-Ptolemais 6

5 Unidentifiable

W1619 (Str. 3) 1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7–14 1

W1638 (Str. 3) 1 Jannaeus (80/79 BCE and later) L7 1

Unstratified 1 Seleucid (173/2–150 BCE?) ªAkko-Ptolemais? 18


16 Unidentifiable

TOTAL 551

[ 250 ]


TJC

0SN

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tol.

.SC

SC SC SC

0 0

[ 251 ]

C H A P T E R E I G H T ( A ) : C O I N S F R O M A R E A JTJ

C

0 6 2

[ 252 ]


TJC

[ 253 ]


C

[ 254 ]


TJC

[ 255 ]


C

$

;

4c

Çc

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Çc

TJC

[ 256 ]


TJC

0RP

C

Dod

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umm

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Fals

NOTES

1 The proto-Nabatean coin (No. 7) belongs to an

often-overstruck type recently assigned to a mint in

Philadelphia (Amman; Lorber, forthcoming,

B342). According to Catharine C. Lorber (pers.

comm.), the undertype never has central cavities,

suggesting that the type dates to before 261/0 BCE.

Consequently, Barkay (2011) recently redated the

coin type from Meshorer’s date of ca. 110–96 BCE

and possibly later (Meshorer 1975: 10–11, 85, Nos.

1–2), and her own redating to “long before 110

B.C.” (Barkay 2003–2006: 55), to the 3rd century

BCE. If this date is correct, then the Ptolemy III

coin (No. 1) is not the only 3rd century BCE coin

from Area J. However, I have not included the coin

in this discussion because this coin, like many

others of the type, is heavily worn (Barkay 2003–

2006: 55) and one may therefore maintain that it

arrived in Jerusalem well after being minted.

2 Although not noted in the final report (De Groot

and Bernick-Greenberg 2012), one coin was found

in the City of David Stratum 8 (Ariel 1990: 101,

C23). While the coin is illegible, a date in the 2nd

century CE was proposed (Ariel 1990), based upon

fabric. However, the 3rd-century-BCE ceramic

dating of Stratum 8 suggests that this dating is unre-

liable.

3 100 coins are noted by Israeli and Katsnelson

(2006: 411), while I reported on 40 (2006: 412).

The two superimposed loci (L.1359 and L.1364) in

Miqweh L.1364 contained a total of 124 coins, 23

unidentifiable.

4 In fact, as the coins of Herod’s third year are rare rel-

ative to the king’s later issues, it is also possible that

the assemblage of glass debitage dates up to 30 BCE,

when the larger striking of Herod’s undated coins

commenced (Ariel and Fontanille 2012: 178–179).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for Chapters Eight (A) and Eight (B) appears at the end of Chapter Eight (B).

[ 257 ]


Plate 8(A).1 Area J, coins

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