First-Temple 2-Shekel Weight Unearthed Near the Western Wall in Jerusalem

Jewish Press ^ | 25 Tishri 5781 - October 13, 2020 | David Israel

[SunkenCiv]

An ancient limestone weight, dating to the First Temple period, was discovered in an archaeological excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation under Wilson's Arch, adjacent to the Western Wall (the Kotel) in Jerusalem...

Mordechai (Suli) Eliav, director of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, said: "How exciting, in the month of Tishrei, whose symbol is the scales of justice, to find a souvenir from the First Temple period. Now, when coming to the Western Wall is so restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic, this finding strengthens the eternal connection between the Jewish nation, Jerusalem, and the Western Wall while offering us all encouragement."

According to Dr. Barak Monnickendam-Givon and Tehillah Lieberman, directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "the weight is dome-shaped with a flat base. On the top of the weight is an incised Egyptian symbol resembling a Greek gamma, representing the abbreviated unit 'shekel.' Two incised lines indicate the double mass: two shekalim. One of the uses of the shekel weight system during the First Temple period was to collect an annual tax of half a shekel dedicated to the sacrifices and upkeep of the Temple. According to previous finds, the known weight of a single shekel is 11.5 grams, thus a double shekel should weigh 23 grams - exactly as this weight does. The accuracy of the weight attests to advanced technological skills as well as to the weight given to precise trade and commerce in ancient Jerusalem. Coins were not yet in use during this period, therefore accuracy of the weights played a significant role in business.

[SunkenCiv]

A new ancient #discovery has been made in #Jerusalem, right next to the holy Western Wall.

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Two-shekel weight found near Western Wall in Jerusalem

[SunkenCiv]

[jocon307]

Coins were not in use? So what was a shekel? A unit of weight?

[mass55th]

Click on the above picture. There’s a short video that provides the info.

[SunkenCiv]

You are correct. The ancient Kdm of Lydia was later, and the discovery of the touchstone to assay gold content, coupled with a big gold strike, resulted in the first coins (contrary to what is sometimes claimed).

coins lydia site:freerepublic.com

Google

[deks]

Coins were not in use? So what was a shekel? A unit of weight? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, the article says that "shekel" was a unit of weight used in the marketplace for anything bought or sold -- before it became the name for a coin.

It also says that something was weighed and collected as a tax but does not identify the substance that was weighed, so perhaps it is not known -- "One of the uses of the shekel weight system during the First Temple period was to collect an annual tax of half a shekel dedicated to the sacrifices and upkeep of the Temple."

[faithhopecharity]

First coins probably Lydian lion coins in about 580 BCE (Ephesus temple). The first Jewish temple in Jerusalem was built 987 (and destroyed 586-587, right about the time those first known coins were invented 616 air miles to the north. And those coins didn’t circulate much as they were a local thing and given too high a valuation to be useful in daily trade ir commerce. FYI.

[Red Badger]

Yes, it was a defined weight.

https://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/history_weight/bibshekel.html?u=bibshekel&v=1