Coins first appeared at sites in Palestine in this period. Coinage was invented in western Asia Minor, either by the East Greeks or by indigenous peoples such
3.7 Amphoras. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.
As the Lydians. Scholars disagree about exactly when coinage was invented in the seventh century, but there is no doubt that it existed by ca. 600 B. C.E. Whoever was responsible for inventing coinage drew on two existing traditions: (1) small lumps of precious metals called “dumps" had long circulated in trade and commerce; and (2) seals carved with inscriptions or designs had been used for millennia to make impressions in raw lumps of clay, sealing documents or the contents of containers. Coins differ from dumps in being stamped with the seal of a minting authority, which guaranteed the purity and weight of the lump of precious metal.
The earliest coins are often made of electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver common in western Asia Minor. They are stamped on the obverse with the symbol of the minting authority, and they have cuttings on the reverse to show
3.8 Electrum coin. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.
That the metal was pure all the way through, not just used as a coating. Soon after the invention of coins, it became common practice to stamp the reverse with a design rather than cuttings. Eventually ridges were added around the edges of some coins to track wear and loss of metal content (weight).
Originally the value of a coin was equal to the value of its weight in precious metal. This is reflected in the names given to some coin denominations, such as the ancient Jewish sheqel or (more recently) the British pound. The right to mint coins has always been a prerogative of the central governing authority, although in antiquity rulers sometimes allowed individuals, cities, or provinces to mint their own coins — usually small, inexpensive denominations made of bronze or copper rather than precious metals. Even today, only the federal government, not individual states, can mint coins within the United States.
Using coins in trade and commerce eliminated the need to weigh metals for the purposes of payment, as coins were minted in standard weights that were guaranteed by the governing authority. Nevertheless, coin circulation remained limited for a long time, and even the most advanced ancient civilizations were never fully monetized.
The earliest coin found in Palestine so far is a Greek coin ca. 570 B. C.E. from the Aegean island of Kos, which was found in a late Iron Age tomb at Ketef Hinnom (see Chapter 11). By the fifth century B. C.E., various kingdoms and city-states around the eastern Mediterranean minted their own coinage. The coins of Athens circulated widely because they were made of high-quality silver from the mines at Laurion in Attica. Athenian coins are stamped on the obverse with the head of Athena in profile, and on the reverse with an owl and olive branch (both attributes of Athena) and the inscription “Athe[nae]." The coins
3.9 Coin of Yahud. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/ BibleLandPictures. com.
Of Athens were so popular that other cities, including the coastal Phoenician cities and the former Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod, minted imitations.
In the fourth century numerous cities and districts around Palestine minted their own low-denomination silver coins, which bear a wide variety of motifs, including heads of deities, figures of animals and mythological creatures, ships, and buildings. These apparently are seals reflecting the authority of different officials responsible for minting. The coins of Yahud have the same diversity of motifs but typically include an eagle and a lily flower (a symbol that the state of Israel adopted for its modern sheqel coins). The inscriptions on some of the Yahud coins — which name individuals bearing the title “priest" (Hebrew kohen) — suggest that there was an active mint associated with the Jerusalem temple and its priests. One silver coin connected with Yahud is exceptional because of its large size and weight and the motifs on it. The obverse shows a bearded male wearing a Corinthian helmet, and on the reverse is a bearded male seated in a winged chariot and holding a falcon in his outstretched hand, with the legend yhd (Yahud) above. Some scholars believe that this coin was minted by one of the satraps of the fourth century and was used to pay Judean mercenaries in the Persian army. There has been speculation about whether the seated figure, which is clearly a deity, might be a depiction of the God of Israel. Interestingly, one of the coins minted in Samaria in the fourth century depicts an enthroned god, holding a flower, who is identified by an inscription as Zeus — perhaps the God of Israel worshiped by the Samarians on Mount Gerizim.
Recommended Reading
Joseph Blenkinsopp, Judaism, The First Phase: The Place of Ezra and Nehemiah in the
Origins of Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009).
Diana Edelman, The Origins of the "Second" Temple, Persian Imperial Policy and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem (London: Equinox, 2005).
Jill Middlemas, The Templeless Age: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the "Exile" (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2007).
Ephraim Stern, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, Volume II: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732-332 B. C.E.) (New York: Doubleday, 2001).
World History
