The First Jewish Shekels. 331 



of the chief unit of the public money, as it corresponded very 

 closely with the Macedonian didrachm, which formed the 

 bulk of the silver money of Philip II., still circulating 

 abundantly in the reign of his son. The early issues of 

 Judaean money were exclusively silver, the Jewish terms for 

 money and silver being, in fact, synonymous, as with the 

 modern French, who, like the ancient Jews, have no other 

 term for money than argent ; even gold or copper money being 

 equally cle V argent. Shakespeare did not, therefore, prove 

 himself a learned numismatist when he spoke of " shekels of 

 the tested gold;" as no gold shekels, as coins, ever existed. 

 Supposing the first issue of Jewish coins to have taken place 

 during the supremacy of the high priest, Taddous, it is natural 

 to suppose that the types adopted would be of a strictly 

 religious character, forming a kind of public declaration of the 

 national faith, which had just re-asserted itself under the protec- 

 tion of Alexander, after having been discountenanced as much 

 as possible both by the Assyrian and Persian rulers of Judaea. 



Among the coins formerly attributed to Judas Maccabaeus 

 are a certain class, the size and thickness of which, combined 

 with the bold, broad, and simple execution of the devices, 

 mark them out as belonging to a' different epoch to the others. 

 The greater thickness, and slight convexity in the middle, com- 

 bined with the style of art of the types, at once suggest a gene- 

 ral similarity of workmanship to that of the Greek coins of the 

 Alexandrian period, especially those of the neighbouring Greek 

 cities of Ephesus and Damascus. It is these pieces, therefore, 

 that have now been assigned to a coinage supposed to have taken 

 place under the auspices of the high priest, Taddous, at the 

 instigation of Alexander the Great. Coins thus issued would 

 naturally be expected to bear some allusion to the unexpected 

 liberation from the Persian thraldom which had recently taken 

 place ; and we find, in fact, on the coins which have now been 

 assigned to this epoch, the inscriptions, " first year," " second 

 year," " third year," and " fourth year of the liberation of 

 Israel." There is thus every reason to consider the attribution 

 correct ; although it gives to the Jews the credit of a monetary 

 issue similar to that of neighbouring nations nearly two centuries 

 earlier than was previously supposed. 



The engraving (Fig. 1) is taken from one of these 

 coins, a silver shekel, bearing the numerals of the second 

 year. The obverse has for device a branch bearing three 

 flowers, in allusion to the twelve rods or sceptres which 

 were ordered for the twelve tribes, and placed in the arch 

 of the temple, the rod bearing the name of Aaron being found 

 in the morning covered with leaves and almond flowers. The 

 style of the letters of the inscription are additional proof of the 



