An ancient coin marked with the phrase “Free Zion” (or “Freedom of Zion”) that was minted during the first Jewish revolt against Roman rule in Judea was unveiled in Israel on Sunday.

The coin bears the inscription “Two years to the Great Revolt,” suggesting that it was minted in the year 67 CE, three years before the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans.

“Exactly 1,900 years later, in 1967, the paratroopers entered Jerusalem’s Old City and renewed its freedom, and ours,” Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev said while presenting the artifact at a weekly cabinet meeting. “We restored Jewish sovereignty to Jerusalem. We threw into the dustbin of history the coin issued by Titus after his victory over the rebels: Judea Capta [Judea Captive].”

The coin was unveiled as part of a presentation on the Israeli government’s preparations for the 50th anniversary of the 1967 reunification of Jerusalem. After dismissing the recent UNESCO decisions denying any Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount as “ridiculous,” Regev explained the history of the artifact, which was found two weeks earlier in the Old City.

This coin, Prime Minister and my colleagues, belongs to a series of coins minted during the Great Revolt against the Romans which have previously been found in various places. On one side of the coin there is a vine with Hebrew letters – ‘Freedom of Zion’, and on the other side, an omer cup. To me, this shows the close and unbroken link of the history of the Jewish People to Jerusalem, our eternal capital. I thought it would be nice to present you with this special coin that was found. This is a series of original coins and this coin was found by the staff of my ministry ahead of the Hanukkah event in the City of David on Olei Haregel Street in ancient Jerusalem. It is simply amazing.

Regev’s presentation, with English subtitles, can be viewed in the video embedded below beginning at 4:11.

As UNESCO voted to erase Jewish ties to the Temple Mount in October, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) unearthed significant archaeological evidence of that ancient heritage. In late October, the IAA presented the oldest Hebrew-language mention of Jerusalem yet discovered, dating back some 2,700 years to the time of the First Temple. Days later, Israeli archaeologists revealed that artifacts from the First Temple period had been found in situ on the Temple Mount. The week before those two announcements, the IAA said that it had located the place where Roman troops breached the walls of Jerusalem during their siege of the city and eventual destruction of the Second Temple nearly 2,000 years ago.

Evidence of the Christian history of Jerusalem also emerged in October when the National Geographic reported that workers restoring the Church of the Holy Sepulchre claimed to have uncovered the tomb of Jesus, which was buried under layers of marble for centuries.

[Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90 ]