EN-GEDI 1964 A

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City

Ein Gedi [עֵין גֶּדִי ;عين جدي]

County

Region

Southern [מחוז הדרום‎; لواء الجنوب]

Country

Israel

Ancient place

Engaddai

Lat/Long/Alt

31.451 / 35.384 / -289.82 view

Location details

Centred on village/city

7495

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Hoard name

EN-GEDI 1964 A

Alternative names

Engaddai,עֵין גֶּדִי, En Gedi, عين جدي, Ein Gedi‎‎, Tel Goren, En Gedi, T. Goren I

Data type

Hoard

Date of discovery (from)

1964

Total number of coins

139

Summary

The hoard comprised a clay lamp with 139 bronze coins dated between AD 42 and AD 59.

Discovery method

Controlled archaeological investigation
Disposition

Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA 12008-12146)
Finder(s)

B. Mazar and I. Dunayevsky
Comment

Meshorer noted that the amount of 139 quadrantes [prutot] is "a trifling amount of money" and the plaster cover suggests that it was a "good luck" deposit (Meshorer 1976, 111). He equated the value of the hoard with half a Tyrian Shekel (2 denarii/128 quadrantes), with the additional 11 coins added as an 8% money changing fee (Meshorer 1976, 112). "While the excavators refer to 'more than 140 coins' (Mazar and Dunayevsky 1965: 259) and '141 coins' (No Author 1965: 17), in Meshorer's publication of the hoard it is said to contain 139 coins. At present, 137 coins of the hoard are in the State Collections" (Ariel 2007, 423).
Closing reign (earliest)

Nero
Terminal year (earliest)

59
Closing reign (latest)

Nero
Terminal year (latest)

60
Opening year (earliest)

42
Opening year (latest)

42
Coin-level data

Available to enter

Fetching coin data

Date of excavation (from)

1961
Date of excavation (to)

1965
Site comment

The hoard was found in the wall of a Jewish house (Area D, Building 236) dated to the first century CE, in Tel Goren. While the house was being photographed for documentation, a worker knocked on the plaster of the wall surface with a small pick, revealing a small niche which contained the lamp hoard.
Associated features

Adjacent to the northern wall of courtyard L236, near the eastern tabun.
Recovery method

Excavation
Site class

Urban