BAR Jr.: Sharp Eyes Find Ancient Treasure on the Beach

Whenever plundering armies approached or civil commotion threatened, wise and wealthy ancient Israelites dashed to hide their coins. They stuffed them into jars or perforated jugs and even into oil lamps, then secreted their savings behind the plaster of the walls of their homes, under stairwells, in caves or in any other place 049unlikely to attract the eyes of frenzied looters. Sometimes they hid them so well that, if the owners were slain, the hoards of coins remained untouched for almost two millennia.