'Gold coins started appearing one after another': 1,400-year-old hoard with money and jewelry unearthed near Sea of Galilee

Archaeologists near the Sea of Galilee have discovered a rare, nearly 1,400-year-old hoard of gold coins and jewelry dating to the Byzantine era.

The hoard contained 97 pure gold coins and dozens of jewelry pieces, including earrings inlaid with pearls, semi-precious stones and glass. A team found the treasure while investigating the ancient city of Hippos (also known as Sussita), which is on the slopes of the Golan Heights.

"It is among the five largest gold hoards of that period found in the region," Michael Eisenberg, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa and co-director of the excavation, told Live Science in an email. "The addition of jewelry pieces and small currency makes it more interesting and numismatically important. It's the first of its kind in Hippos so far."

Edie Lipsman, a metal detectorist, discovered the hoard in July while walking by a large stone and two ancient walls. "The device went crazy, I couldn't believe it — gold coins started appearing one after another," Lipsman said in a statement.

The coins feature different emperors, dating from the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justin I (518 to 527) to the early reign of Emperor Heraclius (610 to 613, although Heraclius ruled until 641). Some of the coins had remnants of fabric on them, indicating that the treasure had once been wrapped in cloth.

The coins include solidi, large coins of high gold content from the Byzantine Empire; semisses, which were worth half a solidus; and tremisses, which were worth a third of a solidus.

"When you find coins and jewelry nearly 1,400 years old that look new, it is a rare experience," Eisenberg said in the statement.

One of the tremisses was especially rare; it was likely minted in Cyprus in 610 by the general Heraclius the Elder and his son, who were both revolting against Emperor Phocas. The younger Heraclius won and established the Byzantine Heraclian dynasty, which ruled from 610 to 711.

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A closer look of some of the gold jewelry that have inlays of semi-precious stones and pearls.

An aerial view of Hippos and the Sea of Galilee

"This is a rare find that adds an important layer to our understanding of the political and economic history of the period," Danny Syon, the excavation's numismatist (coin expert), said in the statement.

While it's unknown why the hoard was buried, history shows that Hippos was a tumultuous place during the seventh century. In 614, the armies from the Sasanian Empire, which included Iran and parts of the Middle East and Central Asia, invaded Byzantine Palestine. The residents of Christian cities in the region, including Hippos, hid their wealth as the foreign soldiers advanced, according to the statement.

The region remained a battle-heavy hotspot for many years. Jerusalem fell during the 614 attack, but the Byzantines retook the area about 15 years later. In 636, Muslim armies retook it again. Hippos declined during this time, and it was eventually abandoned after an earthquake hit Galilee in 749.

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A gold coin from the hoard that features a portrait of the Byzantine emperor Phocas.

A gold coin depicting the portrait of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius.

"The first half of the 7th century contains the largest number of emergency hoards of coins in gold and bronze," Eisenberg told Live Science. That's because the Sasanid and Muslim conquests led to widespread chaos at the time. "People were terrified and left relatively a lot of hoards, mainly coins."

The researchers plan to analyze the newfound hoard, which will include reading the coins, documenting the jewelry and doing in-depth research that will put the finds in a regional context, Eisenberg said.

And while it's too soon to know when the hoard will go on display, "I can imagine that from tomorrow, some museums will be interested," Eisenberg said.