Ashekel orsheqel (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,Carthage andHasmonean Judea.
The wordshekel is based on thetriliteralProto-Semitic rootṯql, cognate to theAkkadianšiqlu orsiqlu, a unit of weight equivalent to theSumeriangin2.[1] Use of the word was first attested inc. 2150 BC under the reign ofNaram-Sin of Akkad, and later inc. 1700 BC in theCode of Hammurabi. The Hebrew reflex of the rootšql is found in the Hebrew words for "to weigh" (shaqal), "weight" (mishqal) and "consideration" (shiqqul). It is cognate to theAramaic roottql and theArabic rootṯql (ث ق ل, in words such asthiqāl "weight",thāqil "heavy" ormithqal, a unit of weight). The famouswriting on the wall in theBook of Daniel includes 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 Europe for balance weights and fragments of bronze that may have served as money.[2]
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, andPhoenicians used the shekel, although proper coinage developed very late.Carthaginian coinage was based on the shekel and may have preceded its home town ofTyre in issuing proper coins.[3]
Coins were used and may have been invented by the earlyAnatolian traders who stamped their marks to avoid weighing each time used.Herodotus states that the first coinage was issued byCroesus, King ofLydia, spreading to the goldenDaric (worth 20sigloi or shekel),[4] issued by theAchaemenid Empire and the silver Athenianobol anddrachma. Early coins were money stamped with an official seal to certify their weight. Silver ingots, some of them 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 15:18 withExod 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]
Exodus 30:24 notes that the measures of the ingredients for theholy anointing oil were to be calculated using theShekel of the Sanctuary (see alsoExodus 38:24–26, and similarly atNumbers 3:47 for payment for the redemption of 273 first-born males[11] and atNumbers 7:12–88 for 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 theTemple authorities 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-shekel for his atonement (Exodus 30:11–16).[12]
The Aramaictekel, similar to the Hebrewshekel, used during thefeast of Belshazzar according to theBook of Daniel and defined as weighed, shares a common root with the word shekel and may even additionally attest to its original usage as a weight.
During theSecond Temple period, it was customary among Jews to annually offer thehalf-Shekel into 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 'Ethri in Israel from 1999 to 2001 byBoaz Zissu and Amir Ganor of theIsrael Antiquities Authority (IAA) have yielded important finds, the most-prized of which being ahalf-Shekel coin minted in the 2nd century CE, upon which are embossed 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 atJerusalem was equivalent to twoAthenian drachmæ, each Athenian orAttic drachma weighing a little over 4.3 grams.[16]
TheFirst Jewish Revolt coinage was issued from AD 66 to 70 amid theFirst Jewish–Roman War as a means of emphasizing the independence ofJudea fromRoman rule and replacing theTyrian shekel with its image of a foreign god which had previously been minted to pay the temple tax.[17]
TheBar Kochba shekel was issued from AD 132 to 135 amid theBar Kokhba revolt for similar reasons.
ThePunic orCarthaginian shekel was 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 inSicily during 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 intoSpain under theBarcid dynasty before theSecond Punic War and recovery underHannibal before theThird Punic War. Throughout, it was more common for Carthage's holdings inNorth Africa to employbronze or no coinage except when paying mercenary armies and for most of the coins to circulate in Iberia, Sardinia, and Sicily.[6]
TheTyrian shekel began to be issuedc. 300 BC.[3] Owing to the relative purity of its silver, it became the preferred medium of payment for theTemple tax inJerusalem. In the New Testament, the "30 pieces of silver" paid by the chief priests toJudas Iscariot in exchange for his betrayal ofJesus may be a reference to the Tyrian shekel.[18]
Theshekel (sheqel in direct transcription) replaced theIsraeli pound (Hebrew:לִירָה,lira) in 1980. Itscurrency symbol was⟨
⟩, although it was more commonly notated asש orIS. 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״ח orNIS. 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 Israel abandoned thetranscriptionsSheqel andSheqalim in favor of the standard English formsShekel andShekels.
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