On the obverse of the miniature coin that researchers found in the oldest part of Jerusalem — the City of David — is a portrait of Queen Berenice II. The reverse shows a cornucopia and two stars, along with an inscription in ancient Greek: “Basileisses,” meaning “of the queen.”
Researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) dated the coin to the reign of the queen’s husband, Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–221 B.C.).
The Ptolemies were a Macedonian royal dynasty founded by Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, during the Hellenistic period (about 323–30 B.C.).
The coin was first spotted by archaeologist Rivka Lengler, who took part in the excavations for two years, according to Live Science. “I was sifting through the soil when I suddenly noticed something shiny,” Lengler recalled.
The IAA says the coin was likely one of those given to soldiers returning from the Third Syrian War (246–241 B.C.), a conflict between the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Empire.
“This is a remarkable coin. Only 17 of these have been found in the last 100 years, and this is the first of its kind discovered outside of Egypt and during organized excavations,” said Robert Kool, head of the IAA’s numismatics department.
What else did the scientists report?
Images of queens from the Ptolemaic dynasty occasionally appeared on coins. One of the most famous examples is Cleopatra VII, daughter of Ptolemy XII.
This new find is significant because it is one of the oldest such coins. It serves as a reminder that Queen Berenice II wielded considerable political power and influence.
How the coin ended up in Jerusalem is unclear. Its discovery suggests the ancient city was already recovering after the First Temple’s destruction by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 or 587 B.C.
“Until now, scholars generally believed that after the siege, Jerusalem was a small, underdeveloped, resource-poor city. However, Jerusalem began to recover during the Persian period (586–333 B.C.) and strengthened under the Ptolemies,” said Iftach Shalev, an IAA archaeologist and one of the excavation leaders.
“For centuries after the destruction of the First Temple, Jerusalem was not abandoned and isolated; rather, the city was in a state of renewal, reestablishing connections with dominant political, economic, and cultural centers.”
