Coins
Danny Syon
 
Sixteen coins were discovered in the excavation, of which only ten could be identified (Table 1). The coins are not related to the complex exposed in the excavation; they are probably associated with a main road that passed through the area. All of the coins are made of a copper alloy and are poorly preserved. Coins 1–3 were common in ‘Akko during the Hellenistic period. Coins 4–8 were also common, although coins of Jewish rulers (No. 6) have been seldom discovered in ‘Akko. Coin 9 is rare, and it seems this is the first excavation where it was found in the north of Israel. Coin 10 is also rare, although such coins have been discovered several times in Israel in Fatimid-period contexts.
 
Table 1. Coins
No.
Locus
Basket
Ruler
Date
Mint
IAA No.
1
11
120
Antiochus III
220187 BCE
Antioch?
106436
2
12
111
Antiochus III
200187 BCE
‘Akko?
106733
3
11
118
Antiochus III(?)
200187 BCE
‘Akko?
106732
4
11
121
Seleucid
c. 150125 BCE
Tyre
106740
5
11
108
Municipal issue
c. 125116 BCE
‘Akko
106738
6
11
103
Herod
37–4 BCE
Jerusalem
106737
7
12
112
Late Roman
383395 CE
 
106741
8
12
122
Byzantine
Sixth century CE
Alexandria or Caesarea
106734
9
10
110
Umayyad
c. 740 CE
Aelia (Jerusalem)
106735
10
10
109
Byzantine Anonymous
Eleventh century CE
Constantinople?
106739
 
Glass
Yael Gorin-Rosen
 
One hundred thirty glass fragments were found in the excavation, of which eighty are non-diagnostic body fragments. The fifty glass fragments that were identified date to the Late Hellenistic, Early Roman, Late Byzantine, Umayyad and Crusader periods.
 
The glass artifacts from the Late Hellenistic period include mainly cast bowls with thick walls. Most were decorated on the inside with horizontal grooves. An unusual, undecorated deep bowl, which was probably conical, was found in the excavation. It has a rounded rim, is made of yellowish–green glass and is covered with a layer of silvery weathering and iridescent film (L20, Basket 146; Fig. 7:1). The same basket yielded a body fragment of another colorless, high-quality cast bowl, decorated on the outside with thin, widely-spaced vertical grooves (Fig. 7:2). This type, known as a fluted bowl, is considered one of the luxury vessels of the Hellenistic period; to date, the largest group of bowls of this type was found at Maresha (Jackson-Tal 2004:19–20, Fig. 10). Cast bowls from the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods were found in excavations within the city of ‘Akko as well as over a broad geographic distribution. The use of luxury bowls in ‘Akko reflects a high standard of living during these periods.
The glass artifacts from the Early Roman period include a colorless, high-quality cast bowl with a delicate groove below a thickened rim (L11, Basket 115; Fig. 7:3). A similar bowl was found amongst the manufacturing debris of a glass workshop in the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem and dates to the mid-first century BCE (Israeli and Katsnelson 2006: Pl. 21.23: GL202). The bowl was found in the same basket with fragments of blown vessels belonging to types dating to the Early Roman period. These include a delicately engraved body fragment that probably belonged to a beaker of a type found in a first-century CE tomb at the cemetery in the northern neighborhood of Berit Ahim in ‘Akko (Edelstein 2003: Fig. 3:2), and a double-folded bottle rim characteristic of assemblages from the first and second centuries CE. Other blown vessels from this period that were found in the excavation include a base belonging to a shallow bowl with a double-tubular peripheral ring (L12, Basket 133) and a delicate rounded bowl rim (L11, Basket 102). In addition, two small oval glass inlays were discovered. They have a flat base and a dome-like upper part, and are characteristic of assemblages of this period (L11, Basket 105; Israeli and Katsnelson 2006:419, Pl. 21.11: GL104–GL110).
The glass ascribed to the Late Byzantine period includes tubular wine-glass bases, tiny fragments of rounded wine-glass rims (L10, Basket 100; L12, Basket 106), several glass tesserae and a base of a beaded stem lamp (L10, Basket 101); these vessels are very typical of the period. The lamp fragment also occurs in Umayyad-period contexts.
The glass from the Umayyad period includes a neck fragment decorated with a thick, wavy trail (L10, Basket 100) and a small body fragment decorated with a tonged pattern; it was made in a technique that was first used in this period (L18, Basket 143).
The Crusader-period glass finds include a body fragment of a light-purple beaker, decorated with a large prominent knob (L10, Basket 100; Fig. 7:4). The fragment was discovered on the surface together with vessels dating to the Hellenistic and Late Byzantine periods. It belongs to a prunted beaker, known from ‘Akko and other contemporary sites. The glass used to manufacture the vessel is characteristic of other bottles and vessels that were found in Crusader-period assemblages in ‘Akko (Gorin-Rosen 1997). The purple hue of the vessel and the rather large prunt distinguish this fragment from all the other fragments published to date from ‘Akko and from other sites in the country. The beaker is made of local fabric, and it is possible that prunted beakers were among the products of local glass manufacturing during the Crusader period.