Ancient Cleopatra Coin

From Haaretz:

"Found in an archaeological dig in Bethsaida, this rare bronze coin tells of love, trade ties and globe-shaking jealousies. And what if Marc Antony had won the war?

A few thousand years is a mere blink of an eye when it comes to the vital ties between this land and Egypt, as attested by a rare coin carrying historical weight far greater than its 7.59 grams, which depicts the notorious lovers – and which emerged last year from the ruins of a first-century house at Tel Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee.

Tel Bethsaida rises from the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, but the coin was minted in another city by another sea – the Mediterranean port of Akko - today better known as Acre. The coin, made of bronze, is about the size of a quarter, being 21–23 millimeters in diameter (it is not perfectly round, at least not any more). Its date shows that it was minted in the last half of the year 35 or the first half of 34 BCE.

Mark Antony, the most powerful man in the world at the time, is on one side of the coin and Cleopatra graces the other. On her side are the Greek words “of the people of Ptolemais.” "

For the History Buffs

A little something for the history buffs:

Mummy Autopsy -

Dr Augustus Bozzi Granville caused a sensation when he described the autopsy to the Royal Society of London in 1825. He concluded the mummified woman, Irtyersenu, died of ovarian cancer. But a University College London study, published in the Royal Society journal Biological Sciences, strongly suggests she died of tuberculosis.

Anne Frank - YouTube

A channel for Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who died in a Second World War Nazi concentration camp, has been launched on YouTube. The site contains existing and new images, including the only known video footage of Anne - a shot a few seconds-long of her leaning out of an upstairs window during the wedding of a neighbour in July 1941.

Battle of Bosworth -

One of the most celebrated battle sites in British history is situated on the wrong spot, archaeologists now believe. However, Richard Knox, curator of Bosworth Battlefield, said it was now likely that the proper site was on low-lying ground between the villages of Shenton, Stoke Golding and Dadlington, first proposed by the historian Peter Foss in 1990.

Pennies of the Conqueror -

RARE silver pennies minted during the reign of William the Conqueror have been unearthed by a metal detector enthusiast in the North Cotswolds. Kurt Adams, archaeological finds liaison officer for Gloucestershire county council, says the coins are the first of their kind to be discovered and are in perfect condition despite being almost 1,000 years old.