Israeli boy, 6, finds priceless 3,500-year-old artifact

Fun find. Having been to Israel 8 times, the amount of history there is staggering. We think things are "old" in the USA if they are from the 1700s.

There "Old" isn't "Old" unless it's pre-Ottoman empire. And even Byzantine doesn't feel so "old" when compared to Egyptian or Canaanite eras. LOL!

Best find I had there, in Israel, was a coin from 69AD. Didn't realize what I had until I got back home. Found it in the sand on the beach in Tel Aviv. I contacted the Israeli Antiquity Authority and tried to return it, but they didn't want to mess with it, and basically stopped answering me after the first form letter saying they couldn't ask for it back, since it was already out of country.

It's definitely my oldest find. Absolutely ID'd to 69AD during the First Jewish revolt. Minted in Jerusalem.



Was really incredible. I ended up finding a Justinian coin ring, too, so that coin from the 500's is my second oldest, even though it was recently made and lost by a tourist.

Here's most of my collection. It's already over-flowing the curio... I need to get a second matching curio, for the other corner of the room.

There are well over 100 oil lamps in the collection, ranging from 2300BCE (Canaanite / Bronze Age) to approximately 1100 CE (Crusader), and everything in between. All of them found in the Holy Land, most with provenance, and some directly recovered from Jerusalem.

Pottery range is from a bit earlier, with 3000 BCE being the ealiest (plate/bowl). The latest is from 3rd/4th Century CE (Jug)

The coins, also are a partial set of what I have. I've displayed the ones that best fit the display.

Cheers!

Skippy

That's awesome Skippy SH13 !!! Thanks for sharing.

Skippy SH13 said:

..... I contacted the Israeli Antiquity Authority and tried to return it, but they didn't want to mess with it, ...

Click to expand...

Skippy, great post. But ... if you were already long gone from the hunt site (back home already), then .... why would you contact archies and say "hey, do you want this ?" "And hey, should I not have bothered this, therefore I'm giving it to you". That would seem like the FASTEST way to raise red flags, and create "concerned archies", who would then start thinking "gee, we better police anyone who dares dig something".

If you ask me, the LESS archies think about us, the better. Not the MORE archies think of us.

And I would add that your story tells me : It's "game on " for md'ing beaches in Israel. And if I find an old coin like you did, well then boo-hoo, it's staying at my house

And I would also add that : It's not hard to buy ancient coins in Holy Land tourist zone areas. They're no different than the USA in that regard. Ie.: In the same way it's not unusual for there to be a Coin-dealer store here in the USA, then so too is it in other countries. The Holy land countries are no exception. Coin collecting is a world-wide hobby of buy/sell/trade .

For example: A friend of our family was a tourist there in the Holy land, and came back to the USA with some ancient coins like yours. When I asked him : "Where did you get those ?" he said that while walking through the tourist district, there was a street where scores of street peddler tents are. Selling different wares , trinkets, souvenirs, etc...to the tourists . He stopped at one tent, and saw that the vendor had a dish out, that had handfuls of ancient coins in it. And price tag of $5 each, or whatever. So he bought some as souvenirs. And merely brought them back in his luggage on the airliner. Nobody is snooping through your luggage looking at dates on coins asking "where did you get them".

My friend did ask the vendor though: "Where did these come from ?". And the vendor would only say that they "wash out of the hills, in a certain spot, after a heavy rain". (but who knows ? Maybe he had a detector ?)

Tom_in_CA said:

Skippy, great post. But ... if you were already long gone from the hunt site (back home already), then .... why would you contact archies and say "hey, do you want this ?" "And hey, should I not have bothered this, therefore I'm giving it to you". That would seem like the FASTEST way to raise red flags, and create "concerned archies", who would then start thinking "gee, we better police anyone who dares dig something".

If you ask me, the LESS archies think about us, the better. Not the MORE archies think of us.

And I would add that your story tells me : It's "game on " for md'ing beaches in Israel. And if I find an old coin like you did, well then boo-hoo, it's staying at my house

Click to expand...

Great Question, Tom.

Israel is a really special place, for me. I would have had ZERO problem sending the coin back to Israel on my own dime, to ensure it was in the hands of museum specialists, if they wanted it back.

There is so much black-market stuff going on there, and so much of their history is being robbed, that it's hard to say "I believe in preserving the history" and then become a nighthawk, knowing full well what I did was outside the law. Once I discovered what it was, I did what I thought was right.

Even though it's not a cheap artifact (they sell for about $140), it's rather common. The port of Jaffa (near Tel Aviv) was a known trading point for these coins, so the fact it was brought up by the surf and in the sand on the beach was unsurprising. I did note to them the exact location it was found (near the Tel Aviv Surf Shop!) and even sent them a picture of the sand location (more of a joke than anything). Predictably, I got crickets in response.

The point is, had I understood what to do with it when I found it, I would have simply called the IAA and turned it in. The law was clear that I had to report it, and if they wanted it, they could ask for it. So, I did. I followed the letter of the law. They told me they wouldn't ask for it back, and that was as far as the conversation went. No problems.

Bottom line here, is that this wasn't about "archies" and whether or not they are upset about what we do, as detectorists. Tel Aviv beach is a legal place to detect, there. It's already been thoroughly gone over by archaeologists and while it's a historical place, it's not a historical "site" with artifacts. But, the law is clear that I had to report it, so I did. I got a form letter back for my efforts and crickets... AND a clear conscience, and a coin!

And frankly, my integrity is worth more than a coin. My integrity is not for sale, regardless of how I personally feel about the various politics around Archaeology and Detecting.

If I was detecting in England and found a treasure, and the law required me to tell the landowner/report it, I'd do the same there, too. It's the law.

That's why I did it, thanks for asking!

Cheers,

Skippy

Wow, quite a collection Skippy, going to need to change your name to Indiana Jones.

T-Man said:

Wow, quite a collection Skippy, going to need to change your name to Indiana Jones.

Click to expand...

Only some of them, did I have to outrun boulders for. Most of them just scorpions, and they don't run very fast.

Skippy SH13 said:

Fun find. Having been to Israel 8 times, the amount of history there is staggering. We think things are "old" in the USA if they are from the 1700s.

There "Old" isn't "Old" unless it's pre-Ottoman empire. And even Byzantine doesn't feel so "old" when compared to Egyptian or Canaanite eras. LOL!

Best find I had there, in Israel, was a coin from 69AD. Didn't realize what I had until I got back home. Found it in the sand on the beach in Tel Aviv. I contacted the Israeli Antiquity Authority and tried to return it, but they didn't want to mess with it, and basically stopped answering me after the first form letter saying they couldn't ask for it back, since it was already out of country.

It's definitely my oldest find. Absolutely ID'd to 69AD during the First Jewish revolt. Minted in Jerusalem.

Was really incredible. I ended up finding a Justinian coin ring, too, so that coin from the 500's is my second oldest, even though it was recently made and lost by a tourist.

Here's most of my collection. It's already over-flowing the curio... I need to get a second matching curio, for the other corner of the room.

There are well over 100 oil lamps in the collection, ranging from 2300BCE (Canaanite / Bronze Age) to approximately 1100 CE (Crusader), and everything in between. All of them found in the Holy Land, most with provenance, and some directly recovered from Jerusalem.

Pottery range is from a bit earlier, with 3000 BCE being the ealiest (plate/bowl). The latest is from 3rd/4th Century CE (Jug)

The coins, also are a partial set of what I have. I've displayed the ones that best fit the display.

Cheers!

Skippy

Click to expand...

Sorry to the OP, but that is one amazing collection you have amassed!

matmit said:

Sorry to the OP, but that is one amazing collection you have amassed!

Click to expand...

I think my favorite part is when people come over and look at it, I open the cabinet and force them to hold the items. They always (and I mean ALWAYS) reject me to start with, not wanting to damage anything. These things are pretty dang sturdy! Once they hold them, they all have different reactions to the history of the objects. To hold something that is 5000 years old and was used by another human is pretty mind-blowing for some folks.

The object that creates the most "negative" energy is the clearly "used" crucifixion nail on the second shelf. Found in Magdala (where Mary Magdalene was from), the nail evokes some serious emotional responses. Even when I first held it, I was like "EWWW." History can be very powerful, when it comes to eliciting emotional responses.

I love to learn about the various peoples who used the stuff, too. Such a fun hobby. I add to the collection about once every month or so. Right now, it's literally just stacking up. LOL

Skippy

Skippy SH13 said:

... when people come over and look at it,...

Click to expand...

Skippy, you have an impressive collection ! I would be drooling if I came over to your house.

I think you need to do this though: Box it all up , and ship it to the *proper* authorities , in their *proper* countries. Hurry ! Do the right thing !

And if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put the barber dime I just found in our city's park, and ship it off to city hall here. Lest I have violated the "harvest and remove" laws that are VERY CLEARLY on our books here.

So let's each clear our consciences, and ship our stuff away and go asking city halls and archies "pressing questions" !