A rare lead weight in excellent condition, bearing an ancient Greek inscription from the Hellenistic period, was seized this week in Jerusalem during a special operation by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

The weight, dated to 147–148 BCE, was discovered during an intelligence-based operation by the IAA’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Theft in a Jerusalem shop. IAA inspectors questioned the store owner to trace the intermediaries and thieves who removed the weight from its original site.

The archaeological find is inscribed with the text “Heliodorus, son of Apollonius, agoranomos”—the name and title of a government official responsible for overseeing the accuracy of measurements and weights in markets to prevent commercial fraud. The date indicated on the weight—the year

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