Eli Ashkenazi

16/11/2021

Tuesday, 16 November, 2021, 12:25 Updated: 12:53

They went in search of weapons in an Arab village, and found an ancient and spectacular treasure trove of coins

The Israeli police entered Bir Maksur in the Lower Galilee in search of weapons, but seized hundreds (538) of ancient coins.

A 26-year-old metal detector was also found in the suspect's home.

He was taken for questioning

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Hundreds of coins from various ancient periods were found in Bir al-Maksur (Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority, Nir Distelfeld)

During a search for weapons and ammunition that took place this week in the village of Bir al-Maksur in the Lower Galilee, Israeli police officers seized 538 coins suspected of being stolen from various antiquities sites in the area.

The coins were all taken and transferred to the Antiquities Authority for further investigation, in order to locate the source of the sites from which they were stolen.

Some of the coins date from the third century BC to the Roman-Byzantine period (7th-4th century AD). The

suspect in the theft was taken to the police station and interrogated, and a metal detection device was found in his house.

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To the full article

A metal detecting device was found in the suspect's house, which apparently helped detect the coins (Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority, Nir Distelfeld)

538 antique coins were found in the suspect's home (Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority, Nir Distelfeld)

According to the Israel Police, it "works against antiquities thieves, who loot excavation sites and historical sites in Israel. These are properties belonging to the general public in Israel, and therefore trading in them constitutes a criminal offense."

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Tags

• Bandits

• coins

• Archeology

• antiquities