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Shekel

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This article is about the ancient currency. For the present currency of the State of Israel, seeIsraeli new shekel.For the Talmudic tractate, seeShekalim (Tractate).
AnelectrumCarthaginian shekel,c. 310–290 BC, bearing the image ofTanit,consort ofBaal Hammon

Shekelorsheqel(Akkadian:𒅆𒅗𒇻,romanized:šiqlu, siqlu;Ugaritic:𐎘𐎖𐎍,romanized:ṯiql,Hebrew:שקל,romanized:šeqel,plural Hebrew:שקלים,romanized:šəqālim,Phoenician:𐤔𐤒𐤋) is anancient Mesopotamian coin,usually ofsilver.A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35ozt)—and became currency inancient Tyre,CarthageandHasmonean Judea.

Name

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The wordshekelis based on thetriliteralProto-Semiticrootṯql,cognate to theAkkadianšiqluorsiqlu,a unit of weight equivalent to theSumeriangin2.[1]Use of the word was first attested inc. 2150 BCunder the reign ofNaram-Sin of Akkad,and later inc. 1700 BCin theCode of Hammurabi.The Hebrew reflex of the rootšqlis found in the Hebrew words for "to weigh" (shaqal), "weight" (mishqal) and "consideration" (shiqqul). It is cognate to theAramaicroottqland theArabicrootṯql(ث ق ل,in words such asthiqāl"weight",thāqil"heavy" ormithqal,a unit of weight). The famouswriting on the wallin theBook of Danielincludes a cryptic use of the word in Aramaic: "Mene, mene, teqel, u-farsin".

Shekel came into the English language via theHebrew Bible,where it is first used inGenesis 23.

The term "shekel" has been used for a unit of weight, around 9.6 or 9.8 grams (0.31 or 0.32 ozt), used inBronze Age Europefor balance weights and fragments of bronze that may have served as money.[2]

History

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The earliest shekels were a unit of weight, used as other units such as grams and troy ounces for trading before the advent of coins. The shekel was common among westernSemitic speakers.Moabites,Edomites,andPhoeniciansused the shekel, although proper coinage developed very late.Carthaginian coinagewas based on the shekel and may have preceded its home town ofTyrein issuing proper coins.[3]

Coins were used and may have been invented by the earlyAnatoliantraders who stamped their marks to avoid weighing each time used.Herodotusstates that the first coinage was issued byCroesus,King ofLydia,spreading to the goldenDaric(worth 20sigloior shekel),[4]issued by theAchaemenid Empireand the silver Athenianobolanddrachma.Early coins were money stamped with an official seal to certify their weight. Silver ingots, some with markings were issued. Later authorities decided who designed coins.[5]

As with many ancient units, the shekel had a variety of values depending on the era, government and region; weights between 7[6]and 17 grams and values of 11,[7]14, and 17 grams are common. A two-shekel weight recently recovered near the temple area in Jerusalem and dated to the period of the First Temple weighs 23 grams,[8]giving a weight of 11.5 grams per shekel in Israel during the monarchy. When used to pay labourers, recorded wages in the ancient world range widely. TheCode of Hammurabi(circa 1800 BC) sets the value of unskilled labour at approximately ten shekels per year of work, confirmed in Israelite law by comparingDeut 15:18withExod 21:32.[9]Later, records within the Achaemenid Empire (539–333 BC) give ranges from a minimum of two shekels per month for unskilled labour, to as high as seven to ten shekels per month in some records. A subsistence wage for an urban household during the Persian period would have required at least 22 shekels of income per year.[10]

Israelites

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Exodus 30:24notes that the measures of the ingredients for theholy anointing oilwere to be calculated using theShekel of the Sanctuary(see alsoExodus 38:24–26,and similarly atNumbers 3:47for payment for the redemption of 273 first-born males[11]and atNumbers 7:12–88for the offerings of the leaders of thetribes of Israel), suggesting that there were other common measures of a shekel in use, or at least that theTempleauthorities defined a standard for the shekel to be used for Temple purposes.

According toLevitical law,whenever a census of the Israelites was to be conducted, every person that was counted was required to pay thehalf-shekelfor his atonement (Exodus 30:11–16).[12]

The Aramaictekel,similar to the Hebrewshekel,used during thefeast of Belshazzaraccording to theBook of Danieland defined as weighed, shares a common root with the word shekel and may even additionally attest to its original usage as a weight.

Second Temple period half-Shekel Temple tax

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Shekel from the First Jewish–Roman War with the legend לגאלת ציון, "To the redemption of Zion",[13]inPaleo-Hebrewscript, at theRockefeller Archeological Museum

During theSecond Temple period,it was customary among Jews to annually offer thehalf-Shekelinto the Temple treasury, for the upkeep and maintenance of the Temple precincts, as also used in purchasing public animal offerings. This practice not only applied to Jews living in theLand of Israel,but also to Jews living outside the Land of Israel.[14]Archaeological excavations conducted atHorvat 'Ethriin Israel from 1999 to 2001 byBoaz Zissuand Amir Ganor of theIsrael Antiquities Authority(IAA) have yielded important finds, the most-prized of which being ahalf-Shekelcoin minted in the 2nd century CE, upon which are em Boss ed the words "Half-Shekel" inpaleo-Hebrew(Hebrew:חצי השקל). The same coin possesses a silver content of 6.87 grams.[15]According to the Jewish historianJosephus,the annual monetary tribute of the half-Shekel to the Temple atJerusalemwas equivalent to twoAthenian drachmæ,each Athenian orAtticdrachma weighing a little over 4.3 grams.[16]

Jewish–Roman wars

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TheFirst Jewish Revolt coinagewas issued from AD 66 to 70 amid theFirst Jewish–Roman Waras a means of emphasizing the independence ofJudeafromRoman ruleand replacing theTyrian shekelwith its image of a foreign god which had previously been minted to pay the temple tax.[17]

TheBar Kochba shekelwas issued from AD 132 to 135 amid theBar Kokhba revoltfor similar reasons.

Carthage

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Main article:Carthaginian coinage

ThePunicorCarthaginian shekelwas typically around 7.2 grams in silver and 7.5 grams in gold (suggesting an exchange rate of 12:1).[6]It was apparently first developed inSicilyduring the mid-4th century BC.[3]It was associated with the payment of Carthage's mercenary armies and was repeatedly devalued over the course of each of thePunic Wars.The amount and quality of this currency however increased as a result of the Carthaginian Empire's expansion intoSpainunder theBarcid dynastybefore theSecond Punic Warand recovery underHannibalbefore theThird Punic War.Throughout, it was more common for Carthage's holdings inNorth Africato employbronzeor no coinage except when paying mercenary armies and for most of the coins to circulate in Iberia, Sardinia, and Sicily.[6]

Tyre

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Main article:Tyrian shekel

TheTyrian shekelbegan to be issuedc. 300 BC.[3]Owing to the relative purity of its silver, it became the preferred medium of payment for theTempletax inJerusalem,despite its royal and pagan imagery. The money changersexpelled by Jesusin thefour canonical gospelsare those who exchanged worshippers' baser common currency for such shekels. The “30 pieces of silver”paid by the chief priests toJudas Iscariotin exchange for his betrayal ofJesusmay be a reference to the Tyrian shekel.[18]

Present

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Israel

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Main articles:Old Israeli shekelandIsraeli new shekel

Theshekel(sheqelin direct transcription) replaced theIsraeli pound(Hebrew:לִירָה,lira) in 1980. Itscurrency symbolwas⟨⟩,although it was more commonly notated asשorIS.It was subdivided into 100 new agorot (אגורות חדשות). It was replaced in 1985 by thenew shekel,due tohyperinflation.Its currency symbol is⟨ ₪ ⟩,although it is often notated asש״חorNIS.It is subdivided into 100agorot.Both Israeli shekels are solely units offiat currency,and not related to the weight of any precious metal. With the 2014 series of notes, theBank of Israelabandoned thetranscriptionsSheqelandSheqalimin favor of the standard English formsShekelandShekels.

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^Dilke, Oswald Ashton Wentworth (1987).Mathematics and measurement.University of California Press. p. 46.ISBN9780520060722.
  2. ^Ialongo, Nicola; Lago, Giancarlo (2021)."A small change revolution. Weight systems and the emergence of the first Pan-European money".Journal of Archaeological Science.129:105379.Bibcode:2021JArSc.129j5379I.doi:10.1016/j.jas.2021.105379.hdl:11573/1547061.
  3. ^abcBronson, Bennet (November 1976), "Cash, Cannon, and Cowrie Shells: The Nonmodern Moneys of the World",Bulletin,vol. 47, Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, pp. 3–15.
  4. ^"Siglos".Encyclopædia Britannica..
  5. ^DIA 1964.
  6. ^abcCrawford, Michael Hewson (1985). Philip Grierson (ed.).Coinage and Money under the Roman Republic: Italy and the Mediterranean Economy.The Library of Numismatics. Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-05506-3.
  7. ^Tenney, Merril, ed. (1976). "Weights and Measures".The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible.Vol. 5. Grand Rapids, MI:Zondervan.
  8. ^Laden, Jonathan (15 October 2020)."Iron Age Weight Found near Temple Mount".15 October 2020.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. ^Botterweck, G. Johannes; Ringgren, Helmer; Fabry, Heinz-Josef (2004).Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament.Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 132.ISBN978-0-8028-2345-8.
  10. ^Altmann, Peter (2016).Economics in Persian-Period Biblical Texts: Their Interactions with Economic Developments in the Persian Period and Earlier Biblical Traditions.Mohr Siebeck. p. 62.ISBN978-3-16-154813-0.
  11. ^SeeBemidbar (Parsha)#Sixth reading — Numbers 3:40–51
  12. ^CompareJosephus,Antiquities(vii. 13, § 1)Antiquities of the Jews – Book VII
  13. ^"Ancient Jewish Coins: Coins from the First Revolt (66–70 CE)".Jewish Virtual Library.American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.Retrieved26 October2021.
  14. ^Josephus,Antiquities(xviii. 9, § 1)
  15. ^Boaz Zissu & Amir Ganor,Horvat Ethri — A Jewish Village from the Second Temple Period and the Bar Kokhba Revolt in the Judean Foothills,Journal of Jewish Studies 60 (1), Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, London 2009, pp. 96; 118.
  16. ^Josephus,Wars of the Jews(vii. 6, § 6).
  17. ^"Jerusalem's Tyrian Shekels: a lesson in priorities".
  18. ^Wiseman, Donald J.(1958).Illustrations from Biblical Archaeology.London: Tyndale Press. pp. 87–89..

Bibliography

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Wikisourcehas the text of the1911Encyclopædia Britannicaarticle "Shekel".
Look upshekelin Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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