Stone Weight Used in Commerce During First Temple Period Discovered Near Western Wall in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — A limestone weight that dates to the First Temple era and may have been used in marketplace commerce or for the acquirement of animals to sacrifice was recently discovered in Jerusalem during a soil sift from an excavation near the Western Wall.

The weight, inscribed with a symbol representing the word “shekel,” was found while archaeologists wet-sifted soil from a landfill area as part of a joint project between the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

“The weight is dome-shaped with a flat base. On the top of the weight is an incised Egyptian symbol resembling a Greek gamma (γ), representing the abbreviated unit ‘shekel.’ Two incised lines indicate the double mass: two shekalim,” excavation directors Dr. Barak Monnickendam-Givon and Tehillah Lieberman outlined in a statement.

They explained that as coins were not yet invented, the shekel was used as the weight system in Israel. The weight that was found equates to two shekels.