Aelia Capitolina Coin

On the ninth of Av it was decreed against our fathers that they should not enter the Land [of Israel]; on the same day Temple was destroyed the first and second times, and Bethar was captured and the city was ploughed up. When Ab Av comes in, gladness must be diminished.

MISHNAH TAANIT 4, 6

In the picture: A coin minted by Hadrian as part of his proclamation of the new city of Aelia Capitolina, which was built on the ruins of Jerusalem. The coin shows two bulls plowing along a line on which the walls of the city would be built, as was the Roman custom.

The Mishnah mentions the plowing up of the city as one of the events that occurred the ninth of Av, the event depicted on the coin. The other event mentioned in this mishnaic verse, the capture of Bethar, refers to the defeat of Bar Kokhba at the hands of Hadrian’s forces at the end of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.