Coinage and Power in Ancient Israel

Ancient Jewish coins were minted from the fourth century BC to the reign of Emperor Hadrian in the second century AD; they offer unique insights into the history and civilization of ancient Israel. Coins document the period of Persian rule, the time of the Hasmonean dynasty, the reign of Herod the Great, and, last but not least, they bear witness to the two Jewish-Roman wars. In AD 135 the Second Jewish War, also known as the Bar Kokhba revolt, led to the destruction of Jerusalem, and thus the end of Jewish coinage.

In the course of these centuries the people of the Jewish world witnessed sweeping political and religious changes that would deeply influence Jewish culture and religion. For us today, these coins function as original documents that bear witness to dramatic times, and their images and inscriptions document the identity and self-perception of the contemporary Jewish society.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Israel Museum Jerusalem and the University of Vienna (Department for Numismatic Studies and Department of Geography and Regional Research); the Israel Museum has never before loaned artefacts for an exhibition in Austria, and many of them have never been shown outside of Israel before.