Archaeologists and researchers are excited about a number of artifacts recently excavated in a dig at a site in the settlement of Itamar.
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The most important, unearthed last week, is a silver coin that dates to Hasmonean times. The coin was minted in the city of Tyre in modern-day Lebanon in the second half of the eighth century BCE, in the time of Seleucid King Demetrius II and the High Priest Yohanan Horkanos.
The excavation has also revealed a Second Temple-era stone structure; a sealed cistern that had never been opened, which contained tools and vessels assessed to be some 2,000 years old, including cooking pots; an olive press; a mikveh; and a bronze Roman coin minted in Nablus in the middle of the third century CE. The coin is imprinted with an image of Mount Gerizim.
A team from Bar-Ilan University's Institute of Archaeology has been digging at the site for the past month. Students from the university's Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology Department, as well as students from the Land of Israel Studies Department at Herzog Academic College and local volunteers, have helped with the project.
According to researchers, the finds indicate the former presence of a rural community that reached its peak between the end of the Second Temple and Roman periods.
Dr. Dvir Raviv, who is directing the excavation, described the discoveries as "exciting."
"Because of the finds and the interest [they] created at the end of the [excavating] season, we're planning two additional days of excavation after the holidays," Raviv said.
Head of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan said, "The land is speaking. The archaeological artifacts being discovered in Samaria bolster the current Jewish settlement. If anyone had any doubt about who used to walk these hills, the land is proving it."
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