Shekel

SHEKEL (Heb. Šéqel). - A weight and coin used in the ancient Mediterranean East. In the biblical texts referring to the pre-exilic period, the shekel always designates a weight (v. TALENT). The coin appears only in the 7th century B.C., and it is debated whether it should be attributed to the Lydians or to Aegean peoples. Herodotus (I, 94) declares it to be of Lydian origin.

Darius son of Hystaspes was inspired by this usage when he minted gold darics and silver shekels. The gold daric was worth 20 silver shekels of 5.6 gr. According to Xenophon (Anabasis, I, 5, 6), the shekel was equivalent to 7.50 Attic obols. Only the king could mint gold coins, while sometimes satraps and autonomous cities were granted the right to mint silver coins. This explains the existence of silver coins with the inscription Jēhūdh ("Judah"), perhaps dating back to the 5th century B.C. A similar right was recognized for Simon Maccabeus by Antiochus VII Sidetes (I Mach. 15, 6). But the extant silver coins bearing the name of Simon date either from the time of the war against the Romans (66-70 A.D.) or from that of Simon Bar Kokhba (v.). The Hasmonean princes, the Herodian kings and the Roman procurators minted only bronze coins.

The sacred half-shekel, which every year the Jews had to pay as a tax for the Temple, is generally considered equivalent to an Attic didrachm (v.) (ca. 360 gold lire).