© The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

KOSHER CRAB. A faint and badly worn depiction of a crab decorates the obverse of this sixth-century B.C.E. silver coin, the earliest ever found in Israel. The coin was likely minted on the small Aegean island of Kos, where the crab served as a kind of local emblem. The coin’s presence at Ketef Hinnom evidences commercial links between the Aegean and Judah in the sixth century B.C.E.