History - Weights, Measures, and Coins
From the Bible Through the
Talmudic Period
Weights in the Bible
Seven weights related to metal (thus creating "coins") are mentioned in
the Bible: talent, mina, shekel, beka, gerah, pim, and kesitah. A scale
of the relationships between the first five weights mentioned can be
established on the basis of the Bible and other sources; the absolute
and relative value of the pim can be determined from archaeological
finds. The seventh weight, the kesitah (Genesis 33:19; Joshua 24:32; Job
42:11), seems to be an archaic weight and the origin of its name and its
metrological value are not known.
We can figure out the interrelationships of the three most important
weights, the talent, shekel, and gerah.
The talent (kikkar), was the largest unit of weight in the Bible, and
was already known by the same name in Ugaritic. In Ugaritic it was
pronounced kakaru, as has been shown from Akkadian documents from Ugarit
and Alalakh. The relation between the talent and the shekel is defined
in Exodus 38:25–26. The half shekel brought by 603,550 men amounted to
100 talents and 1,775 shekels. Thus a talent was 3,000 shekels. This
system of dividing the talent into 3,000 shekels differed from the
Mesopotamian system which divides the talent into 3,600 parts, and was
the same as the Ugaritic system where the talent was also divided into
3,000 shekels. From this it follows that the biblical division is based
upon an ancient Canaanite tradition.
The major weight of metal mentioned in the Bible is the shekel, as its
name, which means simply "weight," testifies. Since the shekel was the
definite weight, an expression such as "1,000 silver" (Genesis 20:16)
can be explained as 1,000 shekels of silver, and the name of the weight
is omitted since it is self-explanatory. Abbreviations like these are
also found in other Semitic languages. The fundamental nature of the
shekel can also be seen in the fact that all weights which the Bible
explains are explained only in terms of the shekel.
The shekel was used as a bartering material, not a minted coin. Jeremiah
bought a plot of land and weighed his payment (silver) on scales
(Jeremiah 32:9).
Subdivisions of the shekel were the beka or half-shekel (Genesis 24:22;
Exodus 38:26) and the gerah, a 20th of the shekel (Exodus 30:13). The
gerah is known in Akkadian as gir–. The basic meaning of the Akkadian
word is a grain of carob seed.
The shekel, in turn, was a 50th part of the maneh, and the maneh was a
60th part of the talent. The talent was, of course, equal to 3,000
shekels. The maneh and the talent, however, were only units of account
and remained so during the Second Temple period when the shekel became a
coin denomination. Scales and weights of the shekel unit have been found
in excavations as have gold, silver, and bronze ingots.
A Simple Table:
1 talent=60 maneh=3,000 shekels
1 maneh=50 shekels=100 beka=1,000 gerahs
In short, all weights fit together nicely….if we only knew how much a
shekel weighed…
In excavations carried out in Palestine some of the weights which have
been found have their weight marked on them, but most are without any
notation. The shape of the weights, for the most part, is semicircular
(dome-shaped). There are also some cast metal weights that are
rectangular and cube-shaped, and some that are oval or in the shape of
animals. Most of the weights found in Palestine are from the end of the
period of the monarchy (the seventh to sixth centuries BCE).
Very few weights and inscriptions with the word shekel written
explicitly have been found in strata from the Israelite period. A bronze
weight in the shape of a turtle was found in the coastal plain; on its
reverse side it bears the inscription "one-quarter shekel." And in fact,
a weight of this sort (one-quarter shekel) is mentioned in I Samuel 9:8.
That quarter shekel weighed 2.63 grams. That would make the shekel 10.52
grams.
Another bronze weight from Samaria, also in the shape of a turtle, bears
the inscription "five", and this has been interpreted to mean five
gerahs. Since there are twenty gerahs in a shekel, that would make that
weight one-quarter of a shekel as well. Its weight is 2.49 grams, making
a shekel 9.56 grams.
Another weight from Samaria is marked on one side "one-quarter shekel,"
and its weight is 2.54 grams. That would make the shekel 10.16 grams.
In establishing the value of the shekel there is an additional
complication in that the Bible mentions at least three kinds of shekels:
in Genesis 23:16, a shekel of silver "at the going merchant's rate [over
la-socher]; in Exodus 30:13, "shekel by the sanctuary weight [ha-kodesh]";
and in II Samuel 14:26, "shekels by the king's stone [b'even ha-melech],"
that is, shekels stamped by the royal treasury as proof that they are
perfect. It cannot be determined whether these shekels were equivalent
in value, but on the basis of evidence from external sources, it appears
that there were differences between them.
The mina (Hebrew: Maneh) which designates a weight of approximately 50
shekels, is found in the Bible primarily in the late books (Ezekiel.
45:12; Ezra 2:69; Nehemiah. 7:70, 71). In the period preceding the
destruction of the First Temple, the mina is mentioned only once, in the
verse about Solomon's shields (I Kings 10:17). From this it is
reasonable to assume that in ancient times in Israel reckoning was done
in shekels and talents only, and the mina was not used except in unusual
situations. It appears that this practice too had its roots in an
ancient Canaanite tradition, for in Ugaritic writings many calculations
are found involving shekels and talents and very few involving the mina.
The value of the mina is defined in Ezekiel 45:12. From this verse it
follows that the mina is equivalent to 60 shekels like the Akkadian
man–.
The beka is mentioned twice in the Bible (Gen. 24:22; Ex. 38:26) and its
value is explicitly determined as one-half a shekel. Its name is derived
from the root bq, "to break, to divide," and its basic meaning is "a
part."
In addition to being divided into the beka and gerah, the shekel was
also divided into a fourth and a third (I Sam. 9:8; Neh. 10:33). There
is support for this division both inside and outside Palestine. From
Assyrian documents found at Calah it is evident that the shekel was very
often divided there into many more subunits, but there is no proof that
this was so in Israel as well.
Also mentioned in the Bible is the peres (Dan. 5:25, 28). The peres is
also mentioned in the Mishnah (Pe'ah 8:5) and its value there is half a
zuz.
Coins In the Talmud
The currency system most commonly found in Talmudic literature was based
on the Roman monetary system both in terminology and metrological
structure. Its standard was linked to that of the Tyrian tetradrachm (sela).
There were 1,500 sela'im in a talent.
The now-famous shekel, one-half sela, was no longer the main coin of
measurement even though 3,000 of them still made a talent.
The smallest known coin was the perutah. There were four perutot in a
dinar (also called a "zuz").
Although our sages disagreed about the value of certain small coins, the
Talmudic monetary system appears to have been as follows:
1 talent=60 mina=120 tartimar=750 uncia=1,500 sela=3,000 shekel== either
4,000 or 3,000 Italian issar=6,000 zuz (also called dinar) = 12,000
PROVINCIAL sela=24,000 perutah
Coins in daily use were denarii (or zuz) and sela'im from imperial
mints, while "small change" copper coinage was minted locally in a
number of cities, and were considered to be equal to 1/8 the imperial
coins.
In Babylonia during the Sassanid period (from the early third century
onward), the standard silver unit was the Sassanid drachm, called in the
Talmud zuz (from Akkadian zuzu—"to cut"), while smaller copper coins of
varying sizes were called peshitte.
The History of Coins: How We Got From Shekels to Sela'im
Under Persian rule, some forms of Judean coins were minted, imitations
of Athenian coinage. These silver coins are rather rare, but at least
six coin types are known with the inscription Yehud (Aramaic: Judea).
Some follow the "head/owl" type, while others show a falcon, a
fleur-de-lis, a Janus head, a god seated on a winged chariot, and a bird
of an unidentified kind. It cannot be determined whether the Jewish high
priest or the local Persian governor was the issuing authority, but it's
clear that the community of Judea at that time had no problems placing
images on coins. In fact, one of the coins contains the Hebrew name
Hezekiah (Yehezkiyyah).
With the rise of Alexander the Great, the coins of the Greek world were
briefly universalized. With the mounting tension between the Selecuids
and the Ptolemies, each Greek nation created its own coins.
Beginning in 137 BCE, the Hasmoneans minted their own coins, mostly the
small bronze perutah or dilepton. In accordance with the Second
Commandment no likeness of living beings, men or animals, are found on
them. Most of the emblems, for example the cornucopia—single or
double—the wreath surrounding the legend, the anchor, the flower, the
star, and the helmet, were copied from emblems found on the late issues
of the Seleucid coinage. All Hasmonean coins bear Hebrew legends, but
those of Alexander Yannai and Mattathias Antigonus also have legends in
Greek.
The Hebrew legend, written in the old Hebrew script, almost always
appeared in the formula, "X, the high priest and the assembly of the
elders of the state of the Jews." The Hasmonean rulers were thus styled
on most coins as high priests. The only exception is Alexander Yannai
who eventually also styled himself king on some of his Hebrew legends.
On the Greek legends the Hasmonean rulers styled themselves throughout
as "king."
With one exception, all Hasmonean coins were undated, which presents
scholars with difficulties in arranging them chronologically, especially
as different rulers went by the same names. In spite of earlier
opinions, Simeon, the first independent Hasmonean ruler (142–135 BCE),
never issued any coins. According to I Maccabees 15:2–9, Antiochus VII
granted Simeon the right to issue coinage, but it has been proved that
this grant was withdrawn before Simeon could make use of it. It has been
suggested that Simeon's son John Hyrcanus I (135–104 BCE) did not start
issuing coins immediately on succeeding his father, but only
considerably later, probably in 110 BCE. This suggestion is based on the
fact that cities in Phoenicia and in Palestine received the right to
coin their own money from the declining Seleucid kingdom: Tyre in 126
BCE., Sidon in 110 BCE, and Ashkelon in 104 BCE.
John Hyrcanus' coins were the main pattern for the whole series of
Hasmonean coins. One side depicted a wreath surrounding the legend, "Johanan
[Yehohanan] the high priest and the assembly of the elders of the state
of the Jews," while the reverse side showed a double cornucopia with a
pomegranate. All his coins were of the perutah denomination. The coins
of his successor, Aristobulus I (104–103 BCE), were in brass with the
same denomination and type, but the name was replaced by Judah (Yehudah).
At the beginning of his reign Alexander Yannai (103–76 BCE) issued coins
of the same type as his predecessors, changing the name to Jonathan (Yehonatan).
Later, he issued another series of coins (in Hebrew and Greek) on which
he styled himself king. Their emblems were star, anchor, both sometimes
surrounded by a circle, and flower. A lepton or half-perutah with a palm
branch, and a flower also belonged to this "king" series. One type of
this series, the star/anchor surrounded by a circle, was very frequent.
This was the only coin type in the whole series of Jewish coins which
bears an Aramaic legend written in square Hebrew letters and which has
been dated. The Hebrew as well as the Greek date 25, which is the 25th
year of reign of Alexander Yannai (78 BCE), were recently discerned. As
in the Greek legends and this Aramaic one as well, his name is given as
"Alexandros." Alexander Yannai also apparently issued lead coins which
belong to his "king" series. It is believed that in his final issues he
reverted to the early Hasmonean coin type, styling himself again as high
priest but altering his Hebrew name from Yehonatan to Yonatan probably
in order to avoid the formula of the Tetragrammaton.
The bulk of the coins of John Hyrcanus II (67, 63–40 BCE) were in the
same shape as those of John Hyrcanus I. There were, however, varieties
which were peculiar to his issues. Greek letters, single or as
monograms, eventually appeared on his coins. These letters probably
refered to the magistrates who were responsible for the mint.
Besides the regular coin type, Hyrcanus II also issued lepta or half
perutot of the same type as did his father Alexander Yannai, bearing the
palm-branch/flower. One larger trilepton shows a helmet and a double
cornucopia. On all his coins he styled himself high priest.
During the short reign of the last Hasmonean ruler, Antigonus Mattathias
(40–37 BCE), a fundamental change occurred in the coin issue of the
Hasmoneans. His Hebrew name Mattityahu (Mattathias) is only given on his
perutah denomination. The pomegranate between the double cornucopia is
replaced by an ear of barley. He issued two larger denominations which
can be compared with the Seleucid chalcous and dichalcous. Antigonus was
the only Jewish ruler who depicted the holy vessels of the Temple of
Jerusalem on his coins, specifically, the table of shewbread and the
seven-branched lampstand. In his Hebrew legends he styled himself "high
priest" and in his Greek legends "king." His Hebrew name is known to us
only from his coins.
The coins of Herod the Great (37–4 BCE), all of bronze as those of his
successors, can be divided into two groups: those which are dated and
those which are not. The dated coins all bear the same date, the year
three. As Herod no doubt reckoned his reign from his appointment as king
of Judea by the Romans in 40 BCE and not from his actual accession three
years later, the "year three" is equal to 37 BCE. All legends on his
coins were in Greek and no Hebrew legends appear on the coins of the
Herodian dynasty. The legends rendered his name and title. The emblems
on his coins were the tripod, thymiaterion, caduceus, pomegranate,
shield, helmet, aphlaston, palm branch, anchor, double and single
cornucopia, eagle, and galley. It may be concluded from this selection
of symbols that Herod the Great did not wish to offend the religious
feelings of his subjects. The denominations of his coins were the
chalcous and hemi-chalcous, the trilepton, and frequently the dilepton
or perutah.
The coins of Herod Archelaus (4 BCE–6 CE) are undated and bear mainly
maritime emblems, such as the galley, prow, and anchor. Other types are
the double cornucopia, the helmet, bunch of grapes, and wreath
surrounding the legend. His main denomination was the perutah, but he
also issued a trilepton.
Herod Antipas (tetrarch of Galilee 4 BCE– 39 CE) began to issue coins
only after he founded and settled his new capital Tiberias. All his
coins are dated. The earliest date is from the 24th year of his reign
(19/20 CE). On his coins he is called Herod, but they can easily be
distinguished as they bear his title "tetrarch." The emblems on his
coins are all of flora such as the reed, the palm branch, a bunch of
dates, and a palm tree. Though the emblems are the same on all
denominations, three denominations can be distinguished. Oner side
showed a wreath that surrounded the legend "Tiberias"; only the series
of the last year refered to Gaius Caligula.
As the territory of the tetrarch Herod Philip I (4 BCE.–34 CE) was
predominantly non-Jewish, he allowed himself to strike coins with a
representation of the ruling Roman emperor and the pagan temple erected
by his father in his capital Panias. His coins were dated from the year
5 to the year 37 of his reign, though not all dates occur.
The most common coin struck by King Herod Agrippa I (37–44 CE), grandson
of Herod the Great, was a perutah of the year 6 of his reign (42/3 CE),
depicting an umbrella-shaped royal canopy and three ears of barley. This
coin was obviously struck for Judea. For the other districts of his
kingdom he issued coins that would have offended Jewish religious
feelings as they carried his own portrait or that of the Roman emperor
and even gods or human beings in the Greco-Roman style of the period. On
one very rare coin two clasped hands are shown; the legend seems to
refer to an alliance between the Jewish people and the Roman senate.
All Agrippa's coins are dated, and in his non-Jewish series two
different groups of two denominations each can be discerned belonging to
the reigns of Caligula and Claudius respectively.
Herod of Chalcis (41–48 CE), brother of Agrippa I, regularly put his
portrait on his coins, calling himself "friend of the emperor." Some of
his extremely rare coins bear the date "year 3," others are undated; a
system of three denominations can be observed in this coinage too.
From the time of the son of Herod of Chalcis, Aristobulus of Chalcis
(57–92 CE), only a few rare specimens have been preserved. They bear his
portrait and sometimes also that of his wife Salome. His coins can be
identified by their legends which mention him and his wife Salome as
king and queen.
Because of his long reign, the series of coins assigned to Herod Agrippa
II (c. 50–93 CE) is the largest and most varied among the coin series of
the Herodians. Two types bear his likeness, and others issued in the
year 5 of Agrippa with the name of Nero have a legend surrounded by a
wreath. There are two coins which have a double date (the years 6 and
11) and which belong to the two different eras used on his coins. These
double dated coins bear "inoffensive" symbols such as double cornucopias
and a hand grasping various fruits. All his coins, like those of his
father Agrippa I, were of bronze and dated, making it easy to arrange
them in chronological order.
There are however some difficulties. The first is the parallel issue of
coins in the name of Vespasian and in the name of his sons Titus and
Domitian. It has been accepted that all his Greek coins belonged to an
era starting in the year 56 CE. The Latin series issued in the name of
Domitian belongs to an era starting in 61 CE. The bulk of his coins were
struck during the reign of the Flavian emperors, with Tyche, the goddess
of destiny, and the goddess of victory as emblems. A unique specimen,
with the victory inscription on a shield hanging on a palm-tree, refers
to the Roman victory in the Jewish War (66–70 C.E.). Agrippa thus put
himself into the Roman camp against his own people. His coinage, as
described above, shows the most far-reaching deviation from Jewish
tradition among the ancient coinage issued by Jewish rulers.
By the time the Jewish War broke out, the Tyrian mint had ceased to
issue silver shekels, but shekels were needed by every Jewish adult male
for the payment of the annual Temple tax of a half-shekel (Exodus
30:11ff.; II Kings 12:5ff.). This reason and the resolve of the Jewish
authorities to demonstrate their sovereignty over their own country led
to the decision to strike the well-known "thick" shekels and half- and
quarter-shekels dated from the first to the fifth year of the era of the
war. These are the first silver coins Jews struck in antiquity. They are
of an extraordinarily good quality, artistically as well as technically.
The emblems are as simple as they are beautiful: a chalice with pearl
rim and three pomegranates. The legends which are, of course, only in
Hebrew and written in the old Hebrew script, read Yerushalayim ha-Kedoshah
("Jerusalem the Holy") and Shekel Yisrael ("Shekel of Israel") with the
abbreviated dates: shin alef, shin bet for sh[enat], a[lef], "year one,"
sh[enat] b[et], "year two," etc.). Small bronze coins of the perutah
denomination were struck during the second and third year of the war,
and three larger denominations were issued during the fourth year, two
of which indicate the denomination as revi'a ("quarter") and chatzi
("half"). The emblems of the bronze coins were the vine leaf, the
amphora, the lulav, the etrog, the palm tree, the fruit baskets, and the
chalice.
During the Bar Kochba War (133-135 CE) the last Jewish coin series in
antiquity was issued. Bar Kochba became the head of the Jewish
community, and the bulk of the coins issued bear the name Simeon and
eventually his title "prince of Israel." However, other coins exist from
that period which bear the name of "Eleazar the Priest" or simply that
of "Jerusalem" as the minting authority. The coins were issued over a
period of a little more than three years. The coins of the first two
years were dated, but the formula of the era changed from "Year one of
the redemption of Israel" to "Year two of the freedom of Israel." During
the third year and until the end of the war, the coins issued were
undated and bore the war slogan "For the freedom of Jerusalem." These
coin types, too, were as numerous as they were beautiful, and
artistically ranked first in the series of Jewish coins. The coins were
issued in silver and in bronze. The entire issue was overstruck on coins
then current in Palestine, such as on the Roman provincial tetradrachms
(mainly from Antiochia) and on the Roman denarii or provincial drachma,
as well as on local bronze city coins mainly from Ashkelon and Gaza. Bar
Kochba possibly obtained the gentile coins needed for overstriking by
means of a public loan for the national war effort.
There were two silver denominations, the tetradrachm or sela and the
denarius or zuz. The Temple front and a lulav and etrog appeared on the
tetradrachms, while a rather large number of emblems occurred on the
denarii, such as a wreath surrounding the legend, a bunch of grapes, a
juglet, a lyre, a kitara, a pair of trumpets, and a palm branch. These
emblems were used in many die combinations, thereby creating a large
number of coin types. The bronze coinage was divided into four
denominations, a system taken over from the city coinage then current in
Palestine and which was reused for the Bar Kochba issues.
In general, the Bar Kochba coinage was based on the tradition of the
coinage of the Jewish War, 66–70. The amphora, vine leaf, and palm tree
occurred on the coins of that period, and the similarity of the legends
is all the more striking, with the name of Zion replaced by the name
Israel during the Bar Kochba War.
The vast majority of coins used during the Roman period were minted by
the Romans themselves. After the banishment of Herod Archelaus in 6 C.E.,
his territory (Judea and Samaria) came under direct Roman rule
administered by a procurator of equestrian rank. Some of these
procurators issued coins of the perutah denomination as follows: coin
types with a palm tree and an ear of barley; coin types with a wreath
surrounding legend, a double cornucopia, olive spray, three lilies, a
vine leaf or leaves, kantaros, amphora, and a palm branch; coin types
with three ears of barley, simpulum, lituus, and a wreath surrounding
the date of issue; and coin types with a wreath surrounding legend, two
crossed spears, a palm tree, and a palm branch. It is believed that
these coins were issued at Caesarea Maritima, the administrative center
of the Romans in Palestine. All coins bore the regal years of the
respective Roman emperors and can therefore be arranged in chronological
order without difficulty.
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., Palestine became
a separate administrative unit called provincia Judaea. The Flavian
emperors appointed a legatus pro praetore as head of the local
administration, and he was also the commander of the military forces
stationed in the province.
During the reigns of Vespasian (69–79 C.E.) and Titus (79–81 C.E.) the
coins issued refer in their types and legends to the Roman victory; the
legends are the Greek equivalent to the well-known legend Judaea Capta.
Under Domitian (81–96 C.E.) four series of coins were issued, which do
not refer to the victory over the Jews, but to Domitian's victories in
Germany and Britain. All but the last two coin types of Domitian are
undated and their chronological order was conjectural until recently.
Individual Roman-held cities also minted their own coins. City coins
issued under Roman rule customarily had the head of the emperor on one
side while the reverse bore images referring to the city, such as
temples built there, the gods worshiped by their inhabitants, and
military garrisons stationed in them. The legends frequently indicated
the status of the city within the Roman empire, such as colonia,
autonomous, etc. The archaeological finds suggest that the circulation
of these coins was not restricted to the city by which they were issued,
but was countrywide.
In some cases (Ashkelon, Gaza, Neapolis, Sepphoris, and Tiberias) the
money systems consisted of three or more denominations. Their
equivalency with the Roman coin system cannot be ascertained. All these
coins were of bronze. The only city in Palestine that issued an
autonomous silver coinage was Ashkelon (between 51 and 30 BCE)—coins
bearing portraits of Ptolemy XIV, Ptolemy XV, and Cleopatra VII. The
city coinage came to an end in about 260 C.E. when it became known that
the value of the metal was greater than their nominal value. It was then
replaced by debased Roman imperial coins.
From:
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
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