Hundreds of ancient coins, oil lamps and gold jewelry have been discovered in Israel, mysteriously thrown away centuries ago in a Byzantine garbage dump.
The excavation site is located on the outskirts of the ancient Israeli city of Arsuf, just north of Tel Aviv. This is not the first discovery made at the site; archaeologists previously uncovered a large winepress and a miniature model of a Byzantine church from 500 A.D.
However, Professors Oren Tal and Moshe Ajami say their latest find is the most fascinating so far.
What stood out to Tal and Ajami was the large number of “usable artifacts” found in the refuse pit. This discovery “raises questions,” they said.
“This is very fascinating,” Tal told the Jerusalem Post. “You don’t expect [intact lamps] to be found in dumps and refuse, because they need to be used and they need to be sold. Our understanding is that there is some sort of probable cultic aspect of intentionally discarding usable and intact vessels among the Samaritan community that inhabited Apollonia in the late Byzantine period.”
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