Druze Community Honors Israeli Divers

A Druze sheikh with a replica of a coin from the treasure A gold treasure off the Caesarea coast was discovered in February 2015 by a group of six Israeli divers—Tzvika Feuer, Kobi Tweena, Avivit Fishler, Shai Milner, Yoav Lavi and Yoel Miller (see June 2015 Dispatch for story). The treasure, which was completely uncovered in a marine archaeological excavation conducted later by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), included some 2,600 coins from the Fatimid period.

For the Druze community, the discovery of the treasure was particularly dramatic because most of the coins found bear the name of the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi Amr Allah, believed to be the founder of the monotheistic Druze religion in AD 1017. The concentration of gold coins with his name bears witness to the power of the caliph’s reign.

The divers that found the gold treasure off the coast of Caesarea and a Druze sheikh with replicas of the coins The Druze community in the Galilee held a ceremony honoring the divers that found the Caesarea treasure. The divers were awarded certificates of appreciation for their exemplary citizenship and contribution to the archaeological research of Israel. They also received an enlarged replica of the one of the coins from the treasure—a gold dinar bearing the name of the caliph Al-Hakim bi Amr Allah.

Israel Antiquities Authority’s Israel Hasson praised the divers saying, “I am glad the discovery, which is so important to the Druze community, is a result of exemplary citizenship, and as an Act of God, it reinforces the interdependency of the Druze community and the Jewish people in Israel.”

According to the divers’ representative, Tzvika Feuer, “Nothing can describe the exhilaration of discovering hundreds of gold coins, which despite the poor lighting conditions gleamed as golden as the day they were minted. From the outset it was clear we discovered a large rare archaeological treasure and we were obliged to report it and turn it over to the IAA. We were later happy to find out that the origin of some of the coins was the Fatimid caliphate…We are honored to…be a part of the chain that connects the Druze to their past.”