Bar Kochba takes off for the stars:
An ancient Jewish coin from the period of the Bar Kochba revolt, bearing the name of Shimon Bar Kochba, will fly into space with Eitan Stiva, the second Israeli astronaut in history.
The symbolic object, which Steve will take with him as part of the "Sky" mission, is a 1,900-year-old Jewish coin.
The coin, from the twentieth year of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, was recently unveiled in the Cave of Horror in the Israel Antiquities Authority's challenging Judean Desert survey, in which volunteers and members of pre-military preparatory schools participated.
As part of the operation, about half of the desert caves were surveyed in search of ancient finds.
The state operation took place in collaboration with the Judea and Samaria Chief of Archeology Officer at the Civil Administration, and funded by the Jerusalem and Heritage Ministry.
The special coin, Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority
The "Sky" mission, led by the Keren Ramon Association and the Israel Space Agency in the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, is intended to inspire the younger generation to promote and expand the Israeli space industry.
The mission will enable Israeli entrepreneurs, scientists and researchers to advance innovative ideas, provide a rare opportunity for them to examine their initiatives in a unique research environment, and thus contribute to the benefit of research and the Israeli and international space industry.
In addition, the mission will make diverse educational activities accessible to the benefit of all Israeli children.
This will be the first time that Israeli children and youth will be able to gain access to the International Space Station - in Hebrew.
Steve visited the Judean Desert Scrolls Laboratories in Jerusalem, where he was presented with excerpts from the 2,000-year-old Book of Enoch, written in Aramaic, depicting a meeting of Noah's paternal grandfather with angels.
According to Scripture, these showed the sun, the moon and the stars to enlighten, who ascended to heaven.
Steve in the Scrolls Lab,
During the tour, the Antiquities Authority's researchers also presented a single camera of its kind, developed with special technology from the US Space Agency (NASA), and adapted to document and preserve the scrolls. The Judean Desert scrolls include, among other things, the oldest copies of Most of the 20th century.
At the end of the tour, the director of the Antiquities Authority, Eli Escozido, gave Eitan Steve the coin he would take with him on loan to space.
On both sides of the coin are symbols that characterize the Jewish art of the Second Temple period: on the inside of the coin, the date palm and the inscription Shimon (the letters Ma'an can be identified) appear and on its reverse - Aleh Geffen, and the inscription "Sh B Lachar Yisrael" To the freedom of Israel.
"The coins of the Bar Kochba revolt were minted in Israel by the Jewish rebels between the years 136-132 CE," noted Dr. Gabriela Bikowski, a coin expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
"These are coins of symbolic significance, which were not used for trade but for Jewish propaganda."
"Sky" - Ethan Steve's Mission Name // Courtesy of Brave Branding
Eitan Steve said: "It was clear to me that among the objects I would take into space would be a symbol of Jewish history. As a symbol of the Institute for Agricultural Research - a volcanic institute, where my father researched the land of the country throughout his life. "
"The fact that Eitan chose to take an antique item of symbolic significance with him into space is very exciting and valuable," said the director of the Antiquities Authority, Eli Escozido.
"This is a historic encounter between the ancient world and the pinnacle of human innovation. The Jewish rebels, who minted the coin about 1,900 years ago while fighting for their lives and independence, certainly did not imagine in their wildest dreams that centuries later this object would make its way out of the atmosphere by a Jewish astronaut. , Who lives in the independent state of Israel. "