Raviv D. and Levy Y.D., 2025, "The Geographical Distribution of Mattatya (Mattathias) Antigonos’ Coins: New Insights from Recent Discoveries," Israel Numismatic Research 20, pp. 145-180
An updated distribution list of coins minted by Mattatya (Mattathias) Antigonos includes 69 recen... more An updated distribution list of coins minted by Mattatya (Mattathias) Antigonos includes 69 recently discovered specimens not yet published. Analysis of the list reveals that the coins circulated widely in the Hasmonean-Herodian kingdom — including regions explicitly identified by Josephus as zones of conflict between the king’s forces and Herod’s troops, as well as areas beyond those mentioned in his account. The expanded dataset not only corresponds with Josephus’ descriptions of key centers of resistance but also indicates that opposition to Herodian rule among the Judean population may have been more geographically widespread than his biased narrative reflects.
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Papers by Dvir Raviv
לוד–ירושלים ובמקביל אליה. שרידי היישוב, בשטח של עשרות דונמים, משתרעים בראש
גבעה מתונה ובמדרונות המערביים והצפוניים שלה. האתר היה מיושב מן העת העתיקה ועד שנת 1948. החל משנות התשעים, בעקבות פיתוח השטח לבניית העיר מודיעין, נערכו באתר ובסביבתו כמה סקרים וחפירות. הממצא הקרמי הצביע על פעילות חקלאית למן התקופה ההלניסטית המאוחרת ועד התקופה העות'מאנית. מאמר זה מציג ממצאי סקר שערכנו בגבעת האתר בקיץ 2021, הכוללים שברי כלי חרס, מטבעות ומשקולת עופרת. הסקר כלל ממצאים מן התקופה הפרסית וההלניסטית הקדומה, תקופות שאינן מיוצגות בממצאי החפירות והסקרים הקודמים. כמו כן, בסקר זה תועדו לראשונה מערכת מסתור ומקווה טהרה המשתייכים ליישוב יהודי ששכן במקום בשלהי ימי הבית השני עד מרד בר כוכבא
of Bethlehem and flows through the area of Herodium to the Dead Sea, is known for its numerous karstic caves. Among them is the longest limestone cave in Israel, Chariton Cave. Since the nineteenth century, these caves have been the focus of geographical, archaeological and speleological studies. Archaeological excavations have revealed that some of the caves in this area were occupied since the Lower Paleolithic and that human activity continued through long time spans, until the present. Surprisingly, former explorations did not report finds from the Roman period in Wadi Chariton caves. This is puzzling, given the fact that Jewish rebels made extensive use of karstic caves for refuge during the
two wars against Rome. Furthermore, Wadi Chariton is geographically located near the heart of Judaea and next to Herodium, an important administrative centre during the revolts and a site of battles and siege operations. In 2019 we surveyed several caves located in the cliffs along the eastern bank of Wadi Chariton. Archaeological finds retrieved from two of them, Haner Cave and Hapitria Cave, were attributed to the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. The most outstanding find is a tetradrachm (selaʿ ) struck by the rebels in the third year of the revolt. Thus, archaeological remains from the Roman period are reported here for the first time, shedding light on the spatial and tactical organization of the Bar-Kohkba rebels, near their headquarters at Herodium. Earlier periods are also represented in these caves, including rich Late Chalcolithic and Intermediate Bronze Age assemblages, attesting to the importance of the area and its caves as a focus for human activity during these periods.
km south of Shechem (Nablus) in Central Samaria. It comprises a series
of large chambers connected by narrow passages that developed as a
hypogenic cave in Upper-Cenomanian dolomite. During 2017–2018,
we mapped and surveyed the cave, retrieving archaeological finds from
various periods, including the Late Chalcolithic, early Bronze Age,
Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age I, Iron Age II, Persian, early Hellenistic,
Early Roman, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. It seems that the cave’s
geographical and morphological features—its location in an open but
settled landscape and its complex structure of passages leading to spacious chambers—attracted distinct human activities in several periods. In some phases, it was used as a refuge in turbulent times. In this paper, we present the archeological assemblages from the cave and discuss their interpretation and association with the history of the area.