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Ancient Coins Found on Temple Mount

Posted: Tue 23rd December 2008 10.24 AM  | Author: Sam Hailes

Israeli archeologists have found two ancient coins in rubble from Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

One silver half-shekel coin found has been dated to 66-67 AD. Such a coin would have been used as payment for temple tax, paid at the time.

Dr. Gabriel Barkay who directed the dig explained "In the New Testament, Jesus expelled the money changers from the Temple Mount who were exchanging money and handing out the half-shekel coins used to pay the tax...We knew this from written sources, but now we have first-hand evidence."

A second coin found in the rubble from an area which today houses the al-Aqsa mosque, dates back to the time of the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who ruled more than 2,000 years ago.

These new discoveries will add even more weight to the Jewish claim to the temple mount

The Waqf- the Muslim authority in charge of the temple mount- have been carrying out building work on the temple mount and dumping the dirt elsewhere. A team of archeologists and volunteers have sifted through this rubble and found artifacts dating back thousands of years.

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