Tyre coin at Tower of David Museum. Photo: Tal Rogovski
Researches in Israel have discovered a rare silver coin in the Old City of Jerusalem that is believed to have been used to pay the Temple Tax during King Herod’s reign.
According to ChristianHeadlines, the coin was found inside a box of artifacts during a conservation project at the Tower of David Museum. Eilat Lieber, the Director of the Museum, told news sources that the rare coin’s discovery provides further evidence for the historical authenticity of the accounts of Jesus talking to moneychangers.
The box in which the coin, also known as the “Tyre shekel,” was found had previously been discovered during the last conservation project in the 1980s but was later lost until its recent rediscovery.
“We know from the Gospels that Jesus visited Jerusalem … and we know that He talked to the money changers,” Leiber told CBN News. “So here we have the evidence, the archaeological evidence to the historical sources.”
The four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John reveal that Jesus cleansed the temple as he accused the merchants and money changers of turning it into a “den of thieves.” The shekel of Tyre is the most likely candidate for the coin used to pay Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus because it was the most easily accepted coin in business transactions of the day, and was well-recognized and quite ubiquitous.
The Tower of David, which is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance in Old Jerusalem, also features Herod’s palace, where Jesus’ trail apparently took place, according to historians and theologians.
She noted the recent discovery of the Tyre shekel connects the past, present, and future of the Tower of David.
“You can see how the past, the present, and the future are actually here at the Tower of David. During the work for the future of the citadel, we found the evidence from the past. And we can actually know more about our identity,” Lieber said. “Christians can see how the sources, the Gospels are coming alive here in Jerusalem.”
