A cache of rare gold coins and a 900-year-old gold earring were discovered at the port of Caesarea. The lucky find during an excavation is said to be evidence of theCrusaders' conquest of the port city.

A small bronze pot was found a few days ago at the Caesarea National Park, and inside it were 24 gold coins and a gold earring, according to the Antiquities Authority. Thecache was found hidden between two stones in the side of a wall, located in a house in a neighborhood that dated from the Abbasid and Fatimid periods (909-1171 CE).

The coins are dated to the end of the 11th century, which would link the cache to the Crusader conquest of the city in the year 1101, one of the more critical events in thecity's medieval history.

According to the Antiquities Authority, most inhabitants of the city were massacred by Baldwin I's army between 1100 to 1118 CE. Baldwin I served as the king of theCrusader kingdom of Jerusalem. The authority said it can be presumed that the treasure's owner and his family likely died in the massacre or were sold into slavery. Theywould have been unable to return to the site of the cache and retrieve their hidden gold.

"The cache is of a unique combination of coins not yet seen in Israel consisting of two types of coins: 18 Fatimid dinars, well known from previous excavations in Caesarea,where it was the standard local currency of the time," said Dr. Robert Kool, coin expert at the authority. "And a small and extremely rare group of six Byzantine imperial goldcoins. Five of the coins are concave and belong to the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Doukas (1071-1079 CE)."

Kool said that the coins did not circulate locally and may hint at trade relations between Caesarea and Constantinople during the time. One coin would be equal to afarmer's annual salary, so whoever owned the cache was likely wealthy or involved in trade, Kool said.

To read the complete article, see:
CACHE OF GOLD COINS AND 900-YEAR-OLD GOLD EARRING FOUND INCAESAREA (https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Cache-of-gold-coins-and-900-year-old-gold-earring-found-in-Caesarea-573401)

To read the complete article, see:
900-year-old gold coins found in Israel(https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/900-year-old-gold-coins-found-in-israel/ar-BBQqVuN)

To read the complete article, see:
Rare gold coins found in Israeli city of Caesarea (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46429990)

To read the complete article, see:
Trove of 11th century gold coins discovered in ancient Caesarea(https://www.timesofisrael.com/trove-of-11th-century-gelt-discovered-in-ancient-caesarea/)

To read the complete lot description, see:
Pot of gold coins and a single earring hidden from the Crusaders behind thewall of a well 900 years ago found intact in ancient Israeli home (ttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6455659/900-year-old-gold-coins-Israel.html)

Katie de Silva writes: