HEBREW WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 



281 



It only remains now to explain briefly the latest weight- 

 system of the -lews in the later Roman period, as found in the 

 Mishna in use both for money and merchandise. It will be 

 seen to be an ingenious combination of elements derived from 

 Phoenicia, Greece and Rome. Its composition is shown in the 

 following table : — 



The Latest Jewish Weight-System. 



Denarius-drachm (Heb. z&z) 1 



Shekel (old £ shekel) 2 



Sela (original shekel) 4 



Mina (light) 100 



Mina (heavy) 200 



Talent (light) 6000 



Talent (heavy) 12000 



1 



2 



50 

 100 

 3000 

 6000 



25 

 50 

 1500 

 3000 



60 

 120 



1} 



52*63 grs. 



105-26 „ 



210-52 „ 

 5263 



10526 „ 



315780 „ 

 631560 



The system, it will be seen, is based on the denarius, which as 

 - 9 -^ of the Roman libra or pound of 5,053'3 grs., and ^ of the 

 nncia, formed a convenient unit for an international system of 

 weights. It was fitted into the Greek system as the equivalent 

 of the lowered Attic drachm, with the latter's subdivision into 

 6 maahs or obols, omitted in the above table, and into the 

 older Hebrew system as one-fourth of the original shekel, 

 now somewhat lowered and named sela (cf. Josephus, 

 Ant. Ill, viii, 2, the old Hebrew shekel = 4 Attic drachms). 

 The term shekel, however, is now confined to the original 

 half-shekel, or light Phoenician shekel. As in the Greek 

 system, the light mina or "pound" contained 100 denarius- 

 drachms, or 50 light shekels, while the heavy and original 

 Hebrew mina contained 50 of the original shekels. The former, 

 although really more than the Roman pound (libra), was 

 popularly regarded as its equivalent, the terms maneh and litra 

 being; interchangeable in the Mishna. Each mina had, further, 

 its corresponding talent ; the heavy talent of 60 heavy minas, 

 containing 12,000 denarii, weighed exactly 125 Roman pounds 

 (-g^ lb. x 12,000 = 125), the new system thus fitting admirably, 

 at top and bottom, into the Roman imperial system. This value 

 of the Hebrew talent under the Empire — say 90 lbs. avoir, 

 —is vouched for both by the early writers on metrology, and by 

 an existing talent weight with the legend POXDO CXXV 

 TALENT VM SICLORVM [M] III., i.e., 125 pounds or ;3,000 

 (heavy) shekels. 



