by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Israeli archaeologists digging in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) on Friday unearthed a rare collection of ancient coins they believe belonged to King Alexander Jannaeus, a Hasmonean high priest who ruled over Judea from around 103–76 BC, CBS News reports.
More than 2,000 years old, the collection of 160 coins was found in the Jordan Valley by researchers from Israel’s University of Haifa and Zinman Institute of Archaeology, CBS said.
The coins are inscribed with an eight-pointed star and the words “King Alexander 25” in Aramaic, CBS reports.
“The site where the treasure was discovered is, apparently, a way station, which had not been recognized in research until now,” researcher Shai Bar said in a statement. The way station was on a main road leading to the Alexandrion fortress built on a mountain in the Jordan Valley by King Alexander Jannaeus.
The researchers also noted they found the coins on the third day of Hannukah this year, and that King Alexander had descended from leaders of a revolt in 167 BC which, according to the Talmud, resulted in the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem and the first celebration of Hanukkah, CBS reports.
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