JERUSALEM (AFP) – Archaeologists in Israel have found the largest ever cache of rare coins from the time of the last Jewish revolt against the Romans, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said on Wednesday.

The cache includes 120 gold, silver and bronze coins, as well as some pottery and weapons.

It was found in a cave in the Judaean Hills near Jerusalem that served as a hiding place for the Jewish fighters during the so-called Bar Kokhba revolt (132-136 CE), named after its leader.

"This discovery verifies the assumption that the refugees of the revolt fled to caves in the centre of a populated area in addition to the caves found in more isolated areas of the Judaean Desert," said Amos Frumkin of the Hebrew University.

Most of the coins are in excellent condition and "were overstruck as rebels' coins on top of Roman coins" with imprints showing Jewish images and words such as the facade of the Temple in Jerusalem and the slogan "for the freedom of Jerusalem," the university said in a statement.

Bar-Kokhba coins of this quality and quantity have never before been discovered in one location, it said.