| Christianity
and the Coins of Eretz Israel is the new exhibit at the Kadman
Numismatics Pavilion in the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. This
exhibit traces the story of Christianity in Eretz Israel from a perspective
very few people are aware of — coins.
The coins on display, used by the Jews and the Christians in their daily
activities, date from the time of Christ and reflect the origins Christianity
and the stories of the New Testament. The exhibition also includes pottery
lamps, glass jugs, weights, stamps and other items used during the early
Christian and Crusader periods. The coins reflect the development of Christianity
from the faith of a small and persecuted cult to one of the West's most
important and influential religions. |
Part
1: Monetary system during Temple times
Both Jewish
and Christian sources indicate that numerous moneychangers connected with
the money changing needs of the pilgrims gathered in the area of the Temple
(fig. 1): "And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple,
and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew
the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves"
(Mark 11:15). We can suppose that these moneychangers operated among the pilgrims
who visited the Temple, particularly during the three joyous festivals (Tabernacles,
Passover, Pentecost) in order to change the money for the annual half shekel
tribute to the Temple.
Click
to view enlarged
Fig. 1* Copy of a Roman bronze contorniate depicting
three people standing by a table and changing money, 4th century
CE.
Yaakov Meshorer Collection, Jerusalem |
|
This contribution
was already customary in the time of the prophet Nehemiah, when the Jewish
people had assumed responsibility for funding the ongoing operation of the
Temple through, among other things, a fixed annual tribute of a half shekel
which, according to Jewish law, each adult male was obliged to pay. By sending
additional contributions and gifts to the Temple, Diaspora Jews expressed
their religious devotion and their strong connection to Jerusalem and to the
Temple.
Hoards of
shekels from the Jewish War together with Tyrian shekels have been uncovered
at archaeological excavations in various places in Eretz Israel, particularly
in Jerusalem and its surroundings. It is thus reasonable to assume that these
coins were the acceptable currency for important payments during that period.
The monetary system
of Eretz Israel at the time used two methods, one based on silver coins and
the other on bronze coins, which could be exchanged for one another. In order
to change silver coins into bronze coins or vice versa, a money changing method
was employed. This method, which survived in several places in the world until
the 19th century, was based on an appraisal of the value of the transaction
at the time of its implementation, as if dealing with merchandise rather than
money.
In addition
to the coins used by the Jews, particularly the shekels of the Jewish War
and the Tyrian shekels (fig. 1), Hellenistic and Roman coins were also in
circulation during this period. The highest denomination coins, including
the gold aureus or the silver tetradrachm, the shekel and the denarius, were
used for paying taxes.
Three types
of bronze coins are mentioned in the New Testament: assarion (As) (Matthew
10:29), quadrans (Matthew 5:26) and lepton (Mark 12:42). The
As and the Quadrans (a fourth of an As) were struck in Rome and used all over
the Empire. The lepton (in Greek, AEIITOY: small) was the smallest
denomination from the Hellenistic monetary system that had not yet become
invalid. The same names were used for similar coins that were struck in the
provinces. The quadrans was the smallest denomination among the Roman
coins. In Judea, the prutah was minted as the coin with the smallest
denomination. The prutah was equal in weight to the Roman quadrans, but we
do not know its exact value, since this value changed from time to time.
In everyday
life, the prutah was generally used to make payments. Prutahs were
struck mainly by rulers and various Jewish government authorities and by the
Roman procurators who ruled Judea. Later, bronze coins minted in the cities
of Eretz Israel and Transjordan came into use, as did coins brought from adjacent
areas, such as Phoenicia, Syria and Egypt.
Part 2:
The striking of coins in first-century Palestine
ll
Part 3:
The fall of Jerusalem and the Bar Cochba War
|
From:
Christianity on Coins of the Holy Land, Exhibition Catalog, Eretz
Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, 2000. |
