Archeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing
the name and image of the biblical Joseph, Cairo's Al Ahram newspaper recently
reported. Excerpts provided by MEMRI show that the coins were discovered among
a multitude of unsorted artifacts stored at the Museum of Egypt.
According to the report, the significance of the find is
that archeologists have found scientific evidence countering the claim held by
some historians that coins were not used for trade in ancient Egypt, and that
this was done through barter instead.
The period in which Joseph was regarded to have lived in
Egypt matches the minting of the coins in the cache, researchers said.
"A thorough examination revealed that the coins bore
the year in which they were minted and their value, or effigies of the pharaohs
[who ruled] at the time of their minting. Some of the coins are from the time
when Joseph lived in Egypt, and bear his name and portrait," said the
report.
The discovery of the cache prompted research team head Dr.
Sa'id Muhammad Thabet to seek Koranic verses that speak of coins used in
ancient Egypt.
"Studies by Dr. Thabet's team have revealed that what
most archeologists took for a kind of charm, and others took for an ornament or
adornment, is actually a coin. Several [facts led them to this conclusion]:
first, [the fact that] many such coins have been found at various
[archeological sites], and also [the fact that] they are round or oval in
shape, and have two faces: one with an inscription, called the inscribed face,
and one with an image, called the engraved face - just like the coins we use
today," the report added.
