For the Redemption of Zion” – Rare Year Four Revolt Coin Found in Jerusalem

A bronze coin minted by Jews in Jerusalem mere months before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE was discovered during excavations in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden – Davidson Center conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, in collaboration with the City of David and the Jewish Quarter Reconstruction and Development Company. 

 According to Dr. Yuval Baruch, Excavation Director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who has researched this site for over 25 years: “The inscription on the coin – “For the Redemption of Zion”, replacing the earlier “For the Liberation of Zion” – indicates a profound change of identity and mindset, and perhaps also reflects the desperate situation of the rebel forces about six months before the fall of Jerusalem on Tisha B’Av, the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av; in August of the year 70 CE. 

It would seem that in the rebellion’s fourth year, the mood of the rebels now besieged in Jerusalem changed from euphoria and anticipation of freedom at hand, to a dispirited mood and a yearning for redemption. It is also possible that the representatives of the ritual “Four Species’ depicted on the coin, which are symbols of the Sukkot Festival and the ritual national pilgrimage to the Temple, were intended to evoke among the rebels a sense of redemption and anticipation of a hoped-for miracle and happy times.”