JERUSALEM.- A very rare gold coin, bearing the portrait of Egyptian Queen Berenice II, was found in the Givati Parking Lot excavation in the City of David National Park, conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The coin is a small denomination quarter-drachma, made of pure gold (99.3%), dated to 246–241 BCE, during the reign of Ptolemy III, husband of Queen Berenice II. This is the first coin of its kind worldwide found in a clear archaeological context, and one of only 20 known in existence. The rare coin will be displayed to the public in early September as part of the City of David Research Conference.

The obverse of the coin depicts Berenice as a Hellenistic queen, wearing a diadem and veil, with a necklace around her neck. The reverse depicts a cornucopia, a symbol of prosperity and fertility, flanked by two stars. Around the cornucopia is the Greek inscription “of Queen Berenice.”

The coin was discovered during soil sifting adjacent to the excavation area by Rivka Langler, an excavator at the Givati Parking Lot. “I was sifting the excavation soil when suddenly I saw something shiny. I picked it up and realized it was a gold coin. At first, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but within seconds I was running excitedly through the excavation site. I’ve been excavating in the City of David for two years, and this is the first time I’ve found gold! I always saw other excavators discovering special finds, and I kept waiting for my moment – and now it finally arrived!”

“The coin is the only one of its kind ever discovered outside Egypt, which was the center of Ptolemaic rule,” said Dr. Robert Kool, Head of the Numismatics Department at the Israel Antiquities Authority, and Dr. Haim Gitler, Chief Curator of Archaeology and Curator of Numismatics at the Israel Museum, who studied the coin.

The Greek inscription “BASILEISSES” – “of the Queen” – is rare on coins of this period. Queen Berenice appears here not as a consort of the king, but possibly as a ruler in her own right. Women appeared intermittently on Ptolemaic coins for nearly 300 years (305–30 BCE), the most famous of whom was Cleopatra. However, this is one of the earliest cases of a Ptolemaic queen appearing on a coin with such a title during her lifetime – evidence of exceptional independence and political power.

The coin was likely minted in Alexandria, Egypt, perhaps to serve as a bonus for Egyptian soldiers who fought in the Third Syrian War, a conflict between the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Kingdom of Syria. Dr. Kool and Dr. Gitler emphasize: “Worldwide, only about 20 such coins are known, and this is the first ever uncovered in a formal archaeological excavation, making it a find of extraordinary research value.”

According to Yiftah Shalev, Dierctor of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, together with Efrat Bocher of the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem: “The fact that such a rare gold coin was discovered in Jerusalem during the time when the land was under Ptolemaic rule provides a fascinating glimpse into the city’s status in those years and possible relations between the Jerusalem authorities and the Ptolemaic Empire. The coin carries broad implications regarding Jerusalem’s development after the destruction of the First Temple. Until now, the prevailing scholarly view was that post-586 BCE Jerusalem was a small, marginal, resource-poor town. The coin – alongside additional finds from the mid-3rd century BCE – sheds new light: Jerusalem seems to have begun recovering already during the Persian period and grew stronger under Ptolemaic rule. Jerusalem of the centuries after the First Temple’s destruction was not desolate or disconnected, but rather a city in the process of renewal, reestablishing ties with the dominant political, economic, and cultural centers of the period.”

Minister of Heritage, Amihai Eliyahu, added: “Jerusalem never ceases to surprise. The rare coin revealed in the City of David – the first of its kind worldwide discovered in a formal excavation – may be a small find, but it carries great significance for understanding Jerusalem. Excavations in the City of David uncover entire chapters of the city’s history – from the days of the Kingdom of Judah’s glory to the time after the destruction of the First Temple and the exile. After 2,000 years we have returned to our capital, and now we are privileged to uncover its rich past.”

The discovery of the coin, along with other gold jewelry found in the Givati Parking Lot excavation, will be presented to the public as part of the 26th Annual City of David Research Conference, taking place in early September.