Right out of a potential adventure movie plot, Israeli archaeologists from the University of Jerusalem have publicly stated on Monday, September 9, that they have recently discovered lost treasure: a hoard of gold dating back from the Byzantine era, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Byzantine empire, after which the Byzantine era was named, was a Roman empire that lasted from 285 BCE to 1461 CE.

Eilat Mazar, who directed the dig, has described the discovery: 36 gold coins, one medallion embossed with a ritual Jewish Candelabrum, and some silver and gold jewellery.

The treasure was unearthed 50 meters away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque's southern wall. The mosque is also known to devout Jews as Temple Mount, the site where the great temples of Herod and Solomon stood thousands of years ago.

Mazar, who comes from the Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology, said that several artifacts have previously been recovered near the same site, from the time of Solomon which as according to history, had been pillaged by Babylonians in 586 BCE. To discover the gold, dating as early as the seventh century, while welcome, was completely unexpected.

Scholars have hypothesized that the hoard of gold had been intended as a donation to fund the construction of a new synagogue, but somehow the treasure had been abandoned, the owners never returning to collect it. Further speculations relate the abandonment of the treasure to the Persian conquest in 614 CE, wherein the Persians sought assistance from Christians after their power of Jerusalem weakened since their arrival, thereby expelling the Jews from Jerusalem.

The Jews had returned to Jerusalem seeking freedom. They have been called, albeit in a more romantic context, as "the wandering race," as they have been known to suffer consistent religious persecution throughout history.