Rappelling to access hidden passages within the depths of the Te’omim cave, archeologists discovered a treasure trove of coins from the Bar Kokhba revolt. The greatest surprise was one peruta, a small bronze coin minted hundreds of years before by Yohanan Hyrcanus the Hasmonean. Long since removed from circulation, it must have been a symbol of hope for the besieged fighters

For Jewish historians, the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE) constitutes one of the most frustrating periods. Clearly an extraordinary event, larger in scope than the “Great” Revolt of Titus’s day, it was a final, messianic, apocalyptic conflict that began with unprecedented victories against the Roman legions and ended with unparalleled destruction. Yet its import is inversely proportional to the little we know about it.

Only a faint echo has reached us of that heroic, tragic, final chord that heralded complete destruction, exile, and religious persecution. We not only have no clear picture of the course of the revolt, the scope of forces on both sides, or the short-lived Jewish regime, but many of the most important questions remain open: Geo-politically, why did the revolt break out at precisely the worst possible moment, when the Emperor Hadrian’s regime was stable and flourishing, peace reigned throughout the empire, and Diaspora Jewry was still weakened by its revolt during the Kitos War several years earlier? Was Jerusalem recaptured by the rebels? Who was “Eliezer the Priest,” Bar Kokhba’s partner in leadership? And, above all, who was Bar Kokhba himself, and how did he become leader of Judea?

Part of the confusion may be due to the lack of a reliable historian from that period. Bar Kohba’s revolt had no Josephus Flavius to document it first hand. Taken together, the historiographic sources on the revolt – Roman (Cassius Dio), Christian (Eusebius), and Jewish (Rabbinic traditions), are few and problematic. In light of this, every shred of information from archaeological sources is of tremendous significance. The most important and famous artifacts are doubtless the letters found in caves in the Judean Desert, some written by Bar Kokhba himself, whose real name, as the letters reveal, was Shimon Ben Kosiba. Yet even here, the excitement is mixed with much disappointment, for the letters deal with all manner of logistical matters: land leases, reprimands of minor officers, and matters connected to the waving of the four species on the festival of Sukkot – surprisingly prosaic content when one considers the storm raging all around, a moment before the end.

Precisely the somewhat drab realm of numismatics – the study of coins – reveals a bit of the grandeur, hope, and messianism that reigned during this last revolt. On the gold, silver, and bronze coins, one can see pictures of the Temple, destroyed sixty-two years earlier, presumably drawn from memory by those who had yet seen it. The coins also had the words, “For the freedom of Jerusalem,” although it is unclear whether the coins attest to the city’s actual conquest or only to a longing for such. They also included celebratory dates such as “Year One of Israel’s redemption,” and “Year Two of Israel’s freedom.” There were also inscriptions like, “Shimon, Prince of Israel.” Yet the vast majority of these coins were found by antiquities thieves, hence we will never know in what context and together with what other coins they were found – critical questions for archaeologists.