Archaeologists Find Rare Gold Coins With Ancient Egyptian Queens

A rare gold coin with the image of Queen of Egypt Berenike II, aged about 2,200 years, was found in excavations at the site of Daud City in Jerusalem. (Source: Israel's Ancient Authority)

JAKARTA - A 2,200-year-old small gold coin depicting Egyptian Queen Bernenis II has been discovered by archaeologists in Jerusalem.

On the one hand, the coin depicts Ratu Berenice II, while the other side has a picture of a kronucopy and two stars.

"We've only found 17 coins like this over the past 100 years," said Robert Kool of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in a video posted on YouTube.

This coin is thought to date back to the reign of Ratu Berenis II's husband, Badminton III, who is the third ruler of the Egyptian Empire, from 246 BC to 221 BC.

"This is a very beautiful coin," he added.

The coin was found in the soil by archaeologist Rivka Langler in Daud City, an archaeological site in Jerusalem that is considered the city's oldest part, where he worked for two years.

"I was sorting the excavated soil when suddenly I saw something shiny," he said.

"Initially, I couldn't believe what I saw, but in seconds I ran passionately at the excavation site," added Langler.

The coin reads the ancient Greek inscription of Basileses, which means "owned to the Queen". The inscription suggests that Berenice II may be a ruler, Kool said.

"She is a queen in an area called Kirinyaka, now in eastern Libya," she said.

"When she married her cousin, fired III, this area became part of a large, very important, and wealthy Hellistic kingdom. When her husband,men's III, invaded Syria, she took power as Egypt's guardian," he said.