The Great Revolt was the first Jewish revolt against Rome. These coins were minted during the first 5 years (66-70 CE) of the revolt. Coins such as these were likely powerful symbols of Jewish sovereignty and unity.

Robert Deutsch, Coinage of the First Jewish Revolt Against Rome: Iconography, Minting Authority, Metallurgy (Leiden: Brill, 2012).

These coins were minted during the reign of King Antigonus (40-37 BCE), the final Hasmonean ruler. The depiction of sacred Temple objects was a failed attempt to garner support for Hasmonean rule. Hasmonean coins tended to two distinct and sometimes competing themes: Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel and pan-Mediterranean cultural pluralism.

Yaʻaḳov Meshorer, A Treasury of Jewish Coins from the Persian Period to Bar Kokhba (Jerusalem: Yad ben-Zvi Press, 2001).

This is a 6th century Sasanian seal. The Sasanian empire (224-651 CE) is the last Persian dynasty before the rise of Islam. There is relatively little material evidence from this period. Seals such as these are invaluable support for the history of the Jews and others living under Sasanian rule.

Daniel M. Friedenberg, Sasanian Jewry and Its Culture: A Lexicon of Jewish and Related Seals (Urbana: University of Illinois, 2009).

This toilet was discovered in area L51of the Qumran archaeological site. What appears to be a jar is actually the mud lining of the pit, into which the pipe is set. Toilets such as these were used by the Qumran sect, whom scholars have identified as the Essenes—a Second Temple period Jewish sectarian group. Unlike other Jewish sects at the time, they believed that defecation made one ritually impure and thus required mikveh immersion afterwards.

Jodi Magness, “What’s the Poop on Ancient Toilets and Toilet Habits?” Near Eastern Archaeology 75, no. 2 (2012): 80–87.

The Bar Kokhba letters were written in the 2nd century CE and most, though not all, were found in the Cave of Letters near the Dead Sea. The Bar Kokhba Revolt was a three-and-a-half year rebellion against the Roman Empire, and these letters detail the life of the army. The letters, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, were likely dictated to scribes but were written in the name of the leader, Simeon Bar Kosiba, and dispatched across the region. The letters give great insight into the motivations behind Bar Kosiba’s fight.

Yigael Yadin, et al,. The Documents from the Bar Kokhba Period in the Cave of Letters: Hebrew, Aramaic and Nabatean-Aramaic Papyri (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, Shrine of the Book, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2002).

These dishes were found at Qumran, near the Dead Sea. Texts found at Qumran describe the importance of communal meals for those who resided at the site in the period of the Second Temple, and the abundance of dishware and its relative uniformity, along with the discovery of two pottery kilns, may speak to the emphasis they placed on maintaining a strict form of purity and of their desire to separate themselves from the outside world.

Jodi Magness, "Communal Meals, a Toilet, and Sacred Space at Qumran." The Archeology of Qumran and the Dead Seas Scrolls, William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 2002, pp. 105-131.