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<p>[QUOTE="EWC3, post: 4609510, member: 93416"]On the shekel - well I am not strong on etymology and things are hectic here - so here is my off the cuff thought - please differ if you know more</p><p><br /></p><p>I think “shekel” is mostly a kind of figment of translation. Just like we might translate “libra” as “pound” (when it is c. 326g not 454g) or the Chinese liang as “ounce” (when it is c. 37g not 31g or 28g)</p><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps this dates back to when the Bible was viewed as the main source of ancient historical knowledge?</p><p><br /></p><p>My impression is that historically the “real/original shekel” might have been a pre-coinage Judean standard of c. 11.33g in use about 600 BC.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thus the others are just rough cognates – often similar to the ‘stater’ as a coin weight.</p><p><br /></p><p>In this Babylonian price document the translator assumes prices are fixed in the old Sumerian weight system – which had 60 shekels of c. 8.33g in a mina (pound) of c. 500g. But I think the Sumerians actually called that c. 8.3 g unit a “gin”. [That troubled me a little – as when coins arrive only the gold is struck to that standard under Darius. Silver was struck to a different “pound” and “shekel”. Actually a “shekel” of 2 sigloi would be 11.1g and rather similar to the “real” Judean shekel. But for sure the writer knows more than me……]</p><p><br /></p><p>On Carthaginian standards - I think they started with a pound/mina of about 470g decimal split into 50 - like the Egyptians - giving a “kite/kadet” of c. 9.4g. Later I think they they used the same pound but went binary – so - a kind of “quarter ounce” …... c. 470g/64 = c. 7.3g</p><p><br /></p><p>I have the Campanian higher at about 7.6g. That seems to resemble a binary quarter ounce to the Persian (c. 500g) rather than the Egyptian/Syrian (c. 470g)……</p><p><br /></p><p>In haste</p><p><br /></p><p>Rob T[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="EWC3, post: 4609510, member: 93416"]On the shekel - well I am not strong on etymology and things are hectic here - so here is my off the cuff thought - please differ if you know more I think “shekel” is mostly a kind of figment of translation. Just like we might translate “libra” as “pound” (when it is c. 326g not 454g) or the Chinese liang as “ounce” (when it is c. 37g not 31g or 28g) Perhaps this dates back to when the Bible was viewed as the main source of ancient historical knowledge? My impression is that historically the “real/original shekel” might have been a pre-coinage Judean standard of c. 11.33g in use about 600 BC. Thus the others are just rough cognates – often similar to the ‘stater’ as a coin weight. In this Babylonian price document the translator assumes prices are fixed in the old Sumerian weight system – which had 60 shekels of c. 8.33g in a mina (pound) of c. 500g. But I think the Sumerians actually called that c. 8.3 g unit a “gin”. [That troubled me a little – as when coins arrive only the gold is struck to that standard under Darius. Silver was struck to a different “pound” and “shekel”. Actually a “shekel” of 2 sigloi would be 11.1g and rather similar to the “real” Judean shekel. But for sure the writer knows more than me……] On Carthaginian standards - I think they started with a pound/mina of about 470g decimal split into 50 - like the Egyptians - giving a “kite/kadet” of c. 9.4g. Later I think they they used the same pound but went binary – so - a kind of “quarter ounce” …... c. 470g/64 = c. 7.3g I have the Campanian higher at about 7.6g. That seems to resemble a binary quarter ounce to the Persian (c. 500g) rather than the Egyptian/Syrian (c. 470g)…… In haste Rob T[/QUOTE]
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