Ancient Jewish Revolt Bar Kokhba Coin set in 14K Two Tone Gold Pendant

Pendant Size: 4 cm – 1.6" Inches – By – 2.8 cm – 1.1" Inch

Total Weight: 16.5 Grams

Obverse: Seven Branches Palm Tree and Hebrew Inscription "Shim'on"

Reverse: Vine Leaf and Hebrew inscription “For the Freedom of Jerusalem.”

Judaea was one of the most troubled regions of the Roman Empire, and was the site of two great wars in which Jews tried to oust their Roman overlords, the second of which, known as the Bar Kokhba War, raged from A.D. 132 to 135, and was costly and humiliating to the Romans.

 The coinage of the Bar Kokhba War is extraordinary in many ways and continues to captivate collectors with its variety of denominations and types.

the war occurred during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117 to 138), that only Few can deny that he judged poorly when he “refounded” Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, a Roman colony bearing his own family name, and when he announced his intention to erect a temple for Jupiter on the site of the holy Jewish Temple that had been leveled by the armies of Titus during the First Revolt. The Temple ground was held sacred, and the emperor’s plans to honor the chief god of the Romans helped to spark a Jewish revolt.

Military aspects of the revolt were led by Simon Bar Kosiba (Bar Kokhba), named “Simon, Prince of Israel” on these revolt coins, or “Son of a Star,” as he was named by the spiritual leader of the revolt Rabbi Akiba in accord with Num. 24:17 (“A star shall go forth from Jacob”), taken to refer to the messiah.

The first attacks by rebels in the fall of A.D. 132 caught the Romans off guard, forcing the Roman governor Tinius Rufus to evacuate Jerusalem and to take with him the 10th Legion. Thus began what the rebels described on their coins as “Year One of the Redemption of Israel.”

Soldiers from around the empire converged on Judaea during a three-year period to fight the rebels, with thousands of Roman troops dying as a result.

The rebels issued silver and bronze coins by withdrawing Roman coins from circulation and overstriking them with dies of their creation. The surfaces of the Roman coins were hammered or filed to remove as much of the original design as possible.

We are fortunate that the rebels’ coins bear inscriptions that range from the informative to the patriotic. Though the language is Hebrew, the letters are Palaeo-Hebrew, a script which had been out of general use for more than 500 years, perhaps chosen because of its archaic nature.

It's truly inspiring to learn from the courage and resilience of these rebels, and we can honor their memory by acknowledging their struggles and continuing to fight for what we believe in, even when the journey seems and we can make a positive change by staying determined and steadfast in our beliefs.