A Late Twelfth-Century Silver Purse Hoard from Ibelin

Abstract

A late twelfth-century hoard holding 53 Frankish billon deniers and Ayyubid silver dirhams
was excavated on the lower western fringes of Tel Yavneh. The hoard consists of a small
purse of money for daily use and is one of few known material remains of the Crusader castle
and settlement of Ibelin, situated 20 km south of Jaffa. The hoard’s close-fitting deposit date
narrowly chronicles Ibelin’s conquest by Saladin and the forces of the Third Crusade led by
Richard the Lionheart and provides further insight into the monetary history of the region at
the end of the twelfth century.