An Ancient Hoard of 44 Byzantine Gold Coins Discovered in Israel

A hidden cache of 44 gold coins dating from the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem was recently found during an archaeological excavation at the site of the ancient city of Banias, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed on Monday.

Several of the coins were dated to the reigns of Emperor Phocas (602–610) and Emperor Heraclius (610-641), the latter of which overlapped with the Muslim conquest of Byzantine Palestine in 635.

“The coin hoard, weighing about 170 grams … reflects a specific moment in time, when we can imagine the owner concealing his fortune in the threat of war, hoping to return one day to retrieve his property. In retrospect, we know that he was less fortunate,” said Yoav Lerer, who directed the excavation on behalf of the IAA.

Banias, which is located within the Hermon River nature reserve, was first established by Canaanites and reached its peak in the Early Roman period, when Herod the Great and his son Philip II entirely rebuilt the city and named it Caesarea Philippi, in honor of Roman Emperor Augustus.

According to Christian tradition, Banias is where Peter the Apostle recognized Jesus as the messiah and thereafter received the keys to the kingdom of heaven, as recounted in Matthew 16:18.

Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said of the discovery: “The coin hoard is an extremely significant archaeological find as it dates to an important transitional period in the history of the city of Banias and the entire region of the Levant. The Israel Antiquities Authority, together with the National Parks Authority, will work together to exhibit the treasure to the public.

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The ’70s witnessed the Navnirman student’s movement, essentially an urban upsurge against those who were repeating ad nauseum the slogans of green and white revolutions. To recover from the setback caused by the Navnirman movement, the Congress formulated an election strategy around a combination of caste and community known as KHAM (Kshatriya-Harijan-Adivasi-Muslim combine). After the great success of this formula in the Assembly elections of 1980, the upper castes for the first time sensed a political and economic threat to their domination. To them it appeared that their political power was slipping away and being transferred to the ‘backward castes and communities’. The educated middle class, mainly the Brahmins, Banias and Patidars, reacted sharply by starting an agitation against the reservation system in 1981. Probably for the first time in independent India, a modern industrial metropolis experienced such extreme forms of caste violence. The clashes between the savarnas and the Dalits in the industrial periphery of Ahmedabad gradually evolved into a caste war that spread to the towns in 18 out of the then 19 districts. In many villages dominated by land owning Patidars in North and Central Gujarat, Dalit bastis were burnt. Caste tension resurfaced in 1985 in the second anti-reservation agitation. The issue this time was the increase in job quotas of the non-Dalit socially and educationally backward castes; yet the victims were all Dalits. As a result of these two agitations, the Brahmin-Bania-Patidar combine acquired a savarna unity.

Achyut Yagnik, ‘The pathology of Gujarat’ (2002)

Banias

photographed by Eyal Asaf

71.) So where on another continent did I go, take pictures, knit a sweater, and return again to take another picture wearing it there? The answer is Banias Nature Reserve. First visited in 2010. Then knitted this sweater. Then returned in 2013. #sambarsky #sambarskysweaters #sambarskyknitter #knit #knitting #knitter #art #artist #sweater #intarsia #handknit #banias #baniasnaturereserve #baniasnationalpark #baniasnaturalreserve #israel #kiryatshemona #qiryatshemona #waterfall #baniasfalls #baniasfallsnationalpark #baniaspark (at Banias Falls, Northern Israel) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn3hrd8s6U2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

"I took a bath with my biggest rock. A deity, / ancient, severe, rolling around in the bottom of the tub."

-from "Qualm," in A Symmetry by Ari Banias

Ari Banias, from Anybody: Poems; “Bouquet”

[Text ID: “Today you want nothing / because wanting / comes too close to feeling.”]

Revelation 1: The Keys of Death and Hades

The impact of John’s vision was overwhelming, every aspect was at maximum capacity. But now, with Jesus’s gentle touch and quiet reassurance, this kaleidoscope coalesced into discernable words. #GatesofHades #TempltoPan #MountHermon

The impact of John’s vision was powerful, even overwhelming. His senses could hardly take it all in, every aspect was at maximum capacity—flashes of fire and lightning, the thunderous roar of waterfalls, the blinding glow of white light, the heat and gleam of burnished bronze. But now, with Jesus’s gentle touch and quiet reassurance, this kaleidoscope coalesced into discernable words. A…

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Heyyyy hope you're doing wonderful, can I ask you for a web weaving about a daughter growing up to be more like her father?! I'm curious to see what you going to feed me, have a beautiful day.

joan didion blue nights (via @metamorphesque) \\ ari banias anybody: poems: "who you're about to be" \\ frederic belaubre chimeras 19-5 \\ -- \\ starry eyes (2014) dir. kevin kölsch & dennis widmyer \\ valérie bah the rage letters (tr. kama la mackerel) \\ @gorgynei

kofi

Świetnie to wszystko wygląda co? Ale nieźle poryło też banie, wiesz?

Goją się rany, lecz wszystkie bolą. Mam to antidotum, ale banie dalej chorą

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The Great Famine of 1900, known in popular parlance as chhappaniyo, (referring to Vikram Era 1956) set in motion the migration of not only peasant communities but Dalits as well. Realizing the limit of land based activity, the peasant communities began diversifying into modern sectors – commerce, industry and technical education. Even the Brahmins and Banias from Hindu upper castes and Muslims with a trading background – Bohra, Khoja and Memon – were part of this trend. A few took the route to Africa and Fiji. The combined impact of such migration resulted in greater urbanisation within Gujarat and the expansion of a prosperous Gujarati diaspora. The second wave of migration from rural Gujarat started in mid-20th century after land reform measures were initiated by the Congress government in Bombay and Saurashtra states. In 1911, less than 20% of the population of Gujarat was concentrated in urban areas and of that only 18% resided in two cities with more than 100,000 population. By 1951, 27% of the population was urbanised and of that 36% was concentrated in six cities with more than 100,000 population.

Achyut Yagnik, ‘The pathology of Gujarat’ (2002)

פיתולי נחל חרמון

photographed by Ilia Shalamaev

I had a body and it was good

until you gave it meaning.

Meaning ruined pleasure

and created it

so ruin creates

and pleasure’s meaning

I didn’t ask for just lived through

a gate that shrieked each time

it opened and on the street

we passed one another

flicking our eyes at then away from

the bodies made boring

by the small clamors that drown out

the one large clamor.

— Ari Banias, from “Tautology,” A Symmetry

I’m so afraid of knowing what I already know and can’t stop realizing how alone I am..

~Ari Banias