Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

Walla, an Israeli portal and news site, reports on an attempted
smuggling of a 2nd century CE weight (in Hebrew):

http://news.walla.co.il/?w=//716873

A translation of some key sentences:
"IAA investigators, aided by the Post Office and customs
authorities, caught a rare weight from the Bar Kokhba
rebellion, that was on its way to the United States.  The
investigators from the unit responsible for antiquities
smuggling prevention, were surprised to find the
antiquity hidden between the pages of a book.  A search
of the suspect's house revealed additional antiquities.  The
Israeli authorities intend to request permission to investigate
the antiquities dealer in the United States for whom the
antiquity was destined.  The weight which is dated to the
Bar Kokhba rebellion (2nd century CE) is decorated with
Jewish motifs (a menorah or palm leaf).  It has hebrew
letters similar to those on Jewish coins from the Great
Rebellion and Bar Kokhba rebellion of the 1st - 2nd 
centuries CE.  The writing has not been deciphered yet. 
So far only four other such weights have been
discovered.  Simon Bar Kokhba's name appears on the
weights."

Yitzhak Sapir