エルサレム「嘆きの壁」付近で１０００年前の金貨発見

【エルサレムＡＦＰ＝時事】エルサレムの旧市街でこのほど、この地域で政治的混乱が続いていた1000年以上前に鋳造された純金の金貨4枚が発見された。（写真はエルサレム旧市街で見つかった金貨とつぼ）
　イスラエル考古学庁（ＩＡＡ）によれば、金貨は「嘆きの壁」付近で行われていた発掘作業中に、小さなつぼに入った状態で発見された。
　ＩＡＡの専門家ロバート・クール氏は発表で、「保存状態は非常に良く、表面をきれいにしなくても、すぐに見分けがついた」と述べている。
　金貨は９４０年代～９７０年代に造られたもの。クール氏によるとこの時期に、バグダッドを拠点とするスンニ派のアッバース朝から、シーア派のファーティマ朝がエルサレムの支配権を奪うという政治的激変が起こったという。北アフリカを支配したファーティマ朝は、１２世紀に衰退した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/11/11-12:06）

Israeli archeologists have discovered four pure gold coins in Jerusalem's Old City that were minted more than 1,000 years ago, a rare find from an era of political upheaval in the region.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said the coins were unearthed during excavation work near the Western Wall, which is the holiest site where Jews can pray.
The coins, contained in a small jug, were in excellent preservation and were immediately identifiable even without cleaning, IAA specialist Robert Kool said in a statement.
The coins date from the 940s to the 970s, a time of radical political change, in Jerusalem and the surrounding region, Kool added.
During that period, the ruling Sunni Abbasid caliphate, which was headquartered in Baghdad, lost control of Jerusalem to its rival, the Shiite Fatimid dynasty of North Africa, which fell in the 12th Century.
This is the first time in fifty years that a gold cache from the Fatimid period has been discovered in Jerusalem's Old City, Kool said.
Israeli excavators last uncovered gold from the Fatimid period shortly after the 1967 Six-Day War, which saw Israel seize control of east Jerusalem from Jordan, before annexing it.