Ancient gold coins looted from archaeological sites found in Bnei Brak home

ROSSELLA TERCATIN

Hundreds of artifacts from the Hasmonean, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic period were saved from an illegal antique dealer.

Looted gold coins / (photo credit: ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY PREVENTING ROBBERY UNIT)

Hundreds of ancient coins looted from archaeological sites were found in a house in Bnei Brak, the Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Monday.

The artifacts were uncovered during an operation by the IAA’s Robbery Prevention Unit.

Among the coins found were some gold coins from the Byzantine and the Islamic periods, dozens of Hasmonean coins and hundreds of Roman coins.

The suspect worked as an illegal antique dealer trading in artifacts acquired in the legal and illegal markets, as well as smuggled in from abroad.

“Illegal trade in coins and antiquities creates an income opportunity for antiquities looters, and it encourages antiquities robbery and fatal and irreversible damage to sites around the country,” said IAA Trading National Inspector Ilan Hadad.

“The looters, who dig at archaeological sites and destroy them for the sake of greed, cut off the antiquities from their archaeological context and erase entire chapters from the history of the Land of Israel – stories that will never be told again,” he added.

In the past few years, the IAA has been conducting a rescue operation to examine all caves near the shores of the Dead Sea, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The caves have been targeted by looters for decades.

Among others, the archaeologists uncovered some new biblical fragments and a 10,000-year-old woven basket. They found evidence that antiquities looters had probably arrived some 10 cm. from the artifact, but stopped excavating just before reaching it.