Hanukkah has begun , intend Judaic children around the human race are celebrating with the traditional endowment of loot , which to render for all you goyim , means " money " . Today , gelt is synonymous with “ golden coin ” made of transparency - enwrap cocoa , butcenturies ago , the festival of lights was marked by sharing small amount of existent money .
And in a twist of serendipity , a cache of centuries - one-time Au coins was just pick up in Israel .
" It is symbolic that the amber coin were let out on the eve of Hanukkah . For us , this is sure ‘ Hanukkah sugar , ’ ” said Michael Karsenti , chief operating officer of Caesarea Development Corporation , which co - led the digging .
" The coins in the hoard date stamp to the ending of the 11th century , make it potential to link the gem to the Crusader conquest of the city in the year 1101 , one of the most striking events in the medieval history of the metropolis , ” explain dig leaders Dr Peter Gendelman and Mohammed Hatar , of the IAA .
“ According to contemporary written sources , most of the inhabitants of Caesarea were massacred by the army of Baldwin I ( 1100–1118 ) , mogul of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem . It is fair to assume that the hoarded wealth ’s proprietor and his family perished in the carnage or were deal into thrall , and therefore were not capable to retrieve their amber . "
OK , so that ’s not really in the holiday spirit .
Between the 2nd and eleventh centuries , Caesarea was ruledby Byzantines then Arabic Caliphates . The realm generate to Christian control when the Pope - backed GermanicCrusaders , led by Baldwin I , attacked in 1101 . investigator calculate the coin - fill pot was squirrel away out just prior to this spectacular takeover . worker on the ongoing dig at what is now Caesarea National Park found the vessel in the well of a family that was built around the year 1000 CE .
Eighteen of the coin are Fatimid dinars , know to have been the stock local up-to-dateness of the clip , and six are rarified involved imperial gold coins mint around 1071–1079 CE .
The coins were quickly put up for public display at the Caesarea Port , where they will remain until the holiday ends .
