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The earthquake of 363 CE is mentioned in several contemporary sources; it struck 22 towns and the scale of damage varied considerably from town to town. Caesarea Maritima appears on the list of sites that were hit; however the only archaeological evidence for the earthquake is a large hoard of 3,700 copper coins found in the excavations of the synagogue. The latest coins recovered date to 361 CE and suggest the synagogue was destroyed by the 363 CE earthquake. This paper presents a thorough numismatic analysis and catalogue of the hoard and examines the active geological faults in the region of Caesarea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hoard of seven gold coins was discovered during excavations at the Barnea B-C neighborhood in Ashqelon. The coins in the hoard combine two well-defined chronological groups: The earlier comprises three fourth-century CE solidi and the later, four fractions of the solidus dated to the first half of the sixth century. This typological composition is known from other, similar assemblages in Palestine and Egypt. This article focuses on the typological study of the hoard within a broader framework which describes the excavation and the archaeological context where the hoard was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]