200-Year-Old Dreidle Found During Excavations in Moscow

In archeological excavations held this summer in central Moscow, a dreidle with the letters nun-gimmel-hey-shin engraved on it was discovered.

The Moscow municipality announced the find a few days ago, in honor of Hanukkah.

The find was announced as showing the Jewish life that existed in Moscow, with the estimate that the dreidle may have belonged to someone from the Jewish community between 1830-1930. The find took place in excavations in what is believed to be one of the oldest synagogues in Moscow.

In 1930, the synagogue closed and a hostel was opened in its place for the discharged Red Army soldiers, and the building where the synagogue was located became a four-story residential building.

The head of the Department of Cultural Heritage Alexei Yamlianov said that the dreidle found was made of lead. After the cleaning, the familiar letters were found on it, with the letter, specificly the letter “Shin” and not “Pey”. The find is significant as dreidles outside the land of Israel are made with the letter “Shin”.