commissioned. Coins announced the new city: COLonia AELia
CAPITolina CONDita (“Founding of the Colony of Aelia Capitolina”). Be-
fore many of these building projects could be implemented or even com-
pleted, the Second Revolt broke out in 132.
As in the First Revolt, coins provide the most prominent evidence of
the ideology of the Jewish insurgents. All coins refrained from displaying
offensive images but deliberately used traditional imagery with clear reli-
gious connotations: the façade of the Temple, grapes, the four species (lulav,
ethrog, willow, myrtle), Temple vessels, palm tree, and musical instruments
(lyre, harp, trumpets). The only symbol that has classical predecessors is the
wreath. The titulature of the coins expressed hope for the liberation of Jeru-
salem and the restoration of the Temple and its cult. The leader of the re-
volt, Shimon bar Kosiba (nicknamed Bar Kokhba, “Son of a Star,” after
Num. 24:17), is designated “prince(naki})of Israel.” As in the previous re-
volt, years were counted from the beginning of the insurgency (year one to
four of the “redemption”). The coins were struck in bronze and silver and
were inscribed in square or Paleo-Hebrew script. Often Roman coins were
simply overstruck (see fig. 15). In caves by the Dead Sea, refugees hid pre-
cious goods (documents, keys, textiles, basketry, coins) that they had either
brought from their own homes or, as in the case of incense shovels, plun-
dered. Some of the bronze jugs even had pagan images defaced.
Initially, Roman resistance was uncoordinated, and the revolt spread
through various parts of central Palestine. Three very different kinds of ar-
chaeological sources can be used to reconstruct the geographical range of
the rebellion: the distribution of rebel coins, the distribution of character-
istic hiding places, and place names mentioned in documents written by
insurgents. The focus of the revolt clearly was Judea, including the Judean
Desert, and the Jewish-populated hill country to the west, east, and south
and{Ein Gedi. New papyrological evidence suggests that Jerusalem was
under the control of the insurgents at least for a short period, but this is
not yet corroborated by coin finds. Jewish communities in western
Transjordan were also affected. Material evidence from Galilee is not yet
sufficient to determine whether the region actively took part in the revolt.
The final battle at Bethar, west of Jerusalem, is documented by archaeolog-
ical remains (siege works, military equipment).
The results of the Second Revolt probably were even more devastating
for the Jews than those of the First. Judea was renamed Syria Palestina to
erase the rebellious Jews’ name from memory. The plans to rebuild Hiero-
solyma as Aelia Capitolina were carried out. A large arch was built north of352jürgen k. zangenbergEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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