Numismata hellenica: a catalogue of Greek coins; with notes, a map ...

21
NOTE ON THE WEIGHTS OF GREEK COINS.
both in gold and silver, on one side the heads of a bull and gaping lion opposed to each other ', and on the reverse a
rude incuse. These, therefore, were the money of the Lydian kingdom, to which Cyrus put an end by the capture
of Croesus and Sardes in b.c. 548. As Darius, son of Hystaspes, prided himself on having established the coinage of
and silver derive
money in Persia ", we may be assured it is from him that the extant coins of ancient Persia in gold
their name. Their resemblance to those of Lydia in form, in style, and particularly in the weight of the principal silver
coin, which in both coinages, when perfect, weighed about 84 grains troy ', leaves no question as to the Persian
coinage being an imitation of the Lydian. It was the case of a conqueror adopting the arts of the conquered. The
only difference is in the weight of the gold Daric, which is three or four grains heavier than the Lydian gold coin, the
latter weighing about 125 grains. This weight, as I before observed, seems to have been introduced into Lydia from
the country whence she derived arts and letters, namely, Phoenicia, where, as well as in Judea, it appears that a unity
of weight existed, named Shekel, from Shakal, to weigh, that is to say, it was " the weight," kot' i^oxvv. And this
weight appears to have been the same as the Egyptian unit of weight, for we learn from Horapollo that the Moi/(ic,
or unit, which they held to be the basis of all numeration, was equal to two drachmae *; and Sidpaxfov is employed
synonymously with aUXog for the Hebrew word shekel by the Greek Septuagint, consequently, the shekel and the
didrachmon were of the same weight. I am aware that some learned commentators are of opinion that the trans-
lators here meant a didrachmon of the Grseco- Egyptian scale, which weighed about 1 10 grains ; but it is
hardly
credible that diSpaxttov should have been thus employed without any distinguishing epithet, at a time when the Ptolemaic
scale was yet of recent origin, the word didrachmon, on the other hand, having for ages been applied to a silver
of all cities which follow the Attic or Corinthian standard, as well as in
money, of about 130 grains, in the currency
the silver money of Alexander the Great and his successors. In all these currencies, as well as in those of Lydia and
Persia, the stater was an Attic didrachmon, or, at least, with no greater difference of standard than occurs among
modern nations using a denomination of weight or measure common to all ; and hence the word Bi^paxi^ov was at
length employed as a measure of weight, without any reference to its origin in the Attic drachma. Thus we find the
drachma of gold described as equivalent to ten didrachma ', and the half-shekel of the Pentateuch translated by the
Septuagint to iJnt(Tv tov SiSpaxi^ov. There can be little doubt, therefore, that the Attic, and not the Grseco-Egyptian
didrachmon, was intended by them.
The Egyptian Monas, as the parent of all numeration (ttovtoc api9^oS yiveaii), was appropriately represented by
the same hieroglyphic as " Mother," namely, the vulture, and it partook of the sanctity of that peculiarly sacred
bird. Hence, probably, it happened that in the Greek translation made in Egypt, the Shekel-ha-kodesh, or Shekel
of the Sanctuary, was not rendered aUXog or liSpaxfov tov ayiov, but mpax/tov to iiytov,
as if the translators had in
mind the sanctity of the monas, as well as its identity with the Mosaic shekel. And thus it appears highly probable,
that Moses, together with the arts and customs of Egypt, brought the monas with him into the desert, and deposited
it in the sanctuary of the Tabernacle, to remain in the custody of the priests, and to serve as a standard for ever.
The monas had, long perhaps before the time of the Exodus, established itself in Phoenicia, and had there taken the
name of " the shekel " about the same time, when the alphabet was invented by an improvement upon Egyptian
hieroglyphics.
In the second book of Samuel (ii. 14. 26) the shekel is called A akXof 6 /SaaiXiicos : it was probably deposited in
the sanctuary of the Temple of Solomon.
In this question, we must be careful to distinguish between the Mosaic shekel (the weight) and the extant Jewish
silver money (i/d/iitr/ja 'E/3poiuv), equally called Shekel, as appears by the words " Shekel Israel," inscribed upon it.
That the Mosaic shekel was nothing more than a weight, is evident from numerous passages in the Old Testament.
It is a mistake to suppose that Genesis (xxiii. 16) proves the existence of money at that time, because our version
makes mention of "money current with the merchant;" there is no word corresponding to " money" in the original,
and in the Septuagint the words imply only " four hundred shekels of good silver, such as is approved of by, or is
current among, merchants *." It is to be observed that the half-shekel of silver, paid to the Lord by every male of
the children of Israel as a ransom for his soul ', had nothing in common with the tribute paid by the Jews to the
' The lion was an accompaniment and a symbol of the goddess MA, or Cybele, whose temple at Sardes was one of the
most magnificent in Asia. The bull represented probably the river Pactolus.
' Herod, iv. 166.
'
This coin is accurately described by Xenophon (Anab. i. 5, 6) as equal to 7J Attic oboli, 'O li wiyXoc cvvaTai ivra
o/3o\o4c Koi »;fiio|3oXiov. The obolus of full weight was 11-25 grains (Europe, p. 21), 1 1-25 x 75 = 84-375 84 is found to be
;
about the weight of the most perfect silver Darics. As this accords neither with the shekel of the Septuagint, equal to an
Attic didrachmon, nor with the 'E/3pai