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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 ...
Jan 14, 2024 · The shekel was an ancient unit of weight used throughout the Middle East. The earliest evidence of the shekel dates back over 5,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, where it was used as a unit of currency and exchange. In Mesopotamia, archaeological evidence shows the shekel weight system was in use by the Akkadian Empire around ...
- Shekels of Silver
- Bundles of Silver – צרור הכסף
- Hacksilver
- How Silver functioned as Payment
- Iron I (1200-~1000B.C.E.) – A Chaotic Period
- Silver Hoards in The Iron II
- The End of The Iron Age and The End of Silver Hoards
- How Pricey Was Machpelah?
When Abraham wishes to bury his late wife Sarah, Genesis 23 tells how he purchases a field with its cave, called Machpelah, from Ephron the Hittite.Ephron begins by telling Abraham that he could use the cave for free, which may have just been a pleasantry offered as a sign of respect. Once Abraham states unequivocally that he wants to purchase the ...
In some of the hoards, the silver was stored in cloth bundles. As a consequence of the metal’s corrosion, the cloth got stuck and entwined into the corroded silver and thus survived thousands of years (Fig. 2a). This evidence of cloth bundles for storing silver fits with an expression found in several biblical verses about silver, צרור כסף, meaning...
Many of the silver hoards contain, alongside broken pieces of jewelry, different forms of silver ingots, and “cut ingots” also known as hacksilver (Fig 3. or as per the German spelling used by scholars, Hacksilber), namely silver that was cut with a chisel (i.e., hacked) to form a chunk that would have the desired weight for a given transaction. Th...
Evidence for silver production is available in the archaeological record, since the fourth millenniumB.C.E. We know, based on cuneiform writings, that beginning in the third millenniumB.C.E., silver was used as a main means of currency. This continued for more than a thousand years, until the invention of coinage in the seventh centuryB.C.E. Throug...
In the Iron Age I, the picture changes drastically. Although hoards still have many broken jewelry pieces stored in bundles, the hoards are mostly found in domestic contexts, are of low quality/purity, with a heavy addition of copper alloy. How might we explain this change in silver usage? The end of the Bronze Age is well known in archaeology and ...
In the Iron Age II (~1000-586B.C.E.), the political and economic situation changed. The Philistines still dominate the southern coast, but the northern coast and central highlands become centralized into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The coastal area north of Israel (and in the borders of modern-day Israel north of Tel Dor) is dominated by weal...
The invention of coins is attributed to the late 7th centuryB.C.E., minted in Lydia (modern day west Turkey). In the southern Levant, however, coins were introduced only later, in the beginning of the Persian period (6th centuryB.C.E.). Once coins were introduced, we no longer find silver hoards in Israel. Nevertheless, it would seem that old habit...
Insofar as the price, 400 shekels was a possible/ realistic price in real estate transactions in Late Bronze Age Ugarit (Steiglitz 1979), although we cannot evaluate if it was a fair price for the specific land offered. It is equal to four and a half kilograms (a Judean shekel is valued as 11.33 grams), or around 10 pounds of silver. According to d...
Sep 29, 2023 · The shekel as a unit of weight. In ancient times, the shekel was primarily used as a unit of weight. It was a common measurement for precious metals such as gold, silver, and bronze. The shekel was used to determine the value and purity of these metals, making it an important tool for trade and commerce. For example, when purchasing goods or ...
The modern state of Israel has brought matters full circle, issuing many coins in different denominations that use these ancient symbols. In 1980 the shekel was revived to replace the Israeli lira (pound). Deferred payment—using credit cards and checks instead of currency and coin—is a modern invention. But people have been using money ...
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 ...
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Oct 16, 2017 · In the ancient empires of Egypt, Babylon, India and China, the temples and palaces often had commodity warehouses which issued certificates of deposit as evidence of a claim upon a portion of the goods stored in the warehouses, a form of ‘representative money.” Ancient Egypt and Babylon used representative money.
