Deep in the cave, something caught Hen Zakai’s eye. He leaned in for a closer look. Zakai is a spelunker, or “caver.” He had come to explore an empty stalactite cave in northern Israel. But the cave wasn’t empty. Two shiny silver coins glinted from a nearby nook.
Zakai had stumbled upon a treasure trove—and an ancient one at that. He extracted the coins. One side of each bore the image of Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia from 336 to 323 B.C. The other side showed the Greek god Zeus. Experts believe the coins – along with some silver rings, bracelets, and earrings discovered with them– may have belonged to Israelites. The people may have fled to the caves after Alexander’s death, when political unrest reigned in the land.
Every “found” story has a “lost” story to go with it. This “lost” story may give experts a brand-new glimpse into life in Israel in the fourth century B.C. Zakai’s treasure looked like someone hid it there, hoping to return for it later. Eitan Klein is the deputy director of the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit at Israel Antiquities Authority. “Presumably, the cache was hidden in the hope of better days,” he told CNN, “but today we know that whoever buried the treasure never returned to collect it.” That raises other questions: Who was this mysterious hider? Why did he or she never come back?
The Antiquities Authority followed the trail of Zakai’s discovery. Eventually they unearthed precious objects that dated back 3,000 years to Bible times. The well-hidden cave still has plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. And authorities have nothing but good words for Zakai for doing the right thing: He not only found the treasure, but he also reported it.
