Police recover stolen ancient coins, lamps, other antiquities near Hebron
Some items dated to Hellenistic period over two millennia ago; trove said valued at tens of thousands of dollars
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Dozens of ancient coins, oil lamps, jewelry and Jewish ritual objects were found in a police raid on a home in the village of Beit Ula, northwest of Hebron, on Wednesday.
The stolen antiquities were valued at tens of thousands of dollars, according to officials.
Police detained the homeowner, a Palestinian man in his 50s.
Archaeologists who examined the cache said the antiquities were from a broad cross-section of historical periods, from Hellenistic to Roman and Byzantine times, and on into the Middle Ages.
The detainee will be brought before a military court Thursday to have his remand extended, police said.
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In April, a Palestinian man suspected of smuggling hundreds of antiquities was arrested by police in a village outside Nablus in the West Bank.
A joint police and Civil Administration operation found a trove of antiquities mostly dating to the Hellenistic, Second Temple and Roman periods whose value was estimated at thousands of dollars.
The 50-year-old man was detained on suspicion of antiquities trafficking and an investigation was launched to determine whether he was part of a larger network of looters and dealers operating in the West Bank and Israel.
Ilan Ben Zion contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.