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Shekel came into the English language via the Hebrew Bible, where it is first used in Genesis 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 in Bronze Age Europe for balance weights and fragments of bronze that may have served as money. [2]
1 shekel = 24 giru; 1 mina = 60 shekels (later 100 zuz) 1 talent = 60 mina; In the Israelite system, the ratio of the giru to the shekel was altered, and the talent, mina, and giru, later went by the names kikkar (ככר), litra, and gerah (גרה), respectively; litra being the Greek form of the Latin libra, meaning pound.
The shekel and mina ("profane" or "sacred") were units of both weight and volume. A shekel or mina weight was equal to the weight of that volume of water. Note that the values given for the mina do not match the definitions. 1 shekel = 8.3 ml (approximately 1 cubic aiwas). 1 profane mina = 50 shekel = 500 ml (approximately 27 cubic aiwas).
Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement originated in the loosely organized city-states of Early Dynastic Sumer. Each city , kingdom and trade guild had its own standards until the formation of the Akkadian Empire when Sargon of Akkad issued a common standard.
Articles relating to the shekel, an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.39 oz)—and became currency in ancient Tyre and ancient Carthage, and then in ancient Israel under the Maccabees.
The new shekel has been in use since 1 January 1986, when it replaced the hyperinflated old shekel at a ratio of 1000:1. The currency sign for the new shekel ₪ is a combination of the first Hebrew letters of the words shekel (ש ) and ẖadash (ח ) (new). When the shekel sign is unavailable the abbreviation NIS (ש״ח and ش.ج) is used.
Detail of a cubit rod in the Museo Egizio of Turin The earliest recorded systems of weights and measures originate in the 3rd or 4th millennium BC. Even the very earliest civilizations needed measurement for purposes of agriculture, construction and trade. Early standard units might only have applied to a single community or small region, with every area developing its own standards for ...
Pim weights were polished stones about 15 mm (5/8 inch) diameter, equal to about two-thirds of a Hebrew shekel.Many specimens have been found since their initial discovery early in the 20th century, and each one weighs about 7.6 grams, compared to 11.5 grams of a shekel.