SUMMARY: A rare biblical stone weight from the First Temple era has been discovered in Jerusalem. Soil originally excavated in 2013 was being sifted. The material was removed from the foundation area of the Western Wall. Small artifacts like these help to give evidence for the existence that biblical temples existed on the Temple Mount. Tim Mahoney also interviews Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay, who is a founder and director of the Temple Mount sifting project.
a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.
– Exodus 38:26 (ESV)
Biblical Stone Weight: Engraved with “Beka”
Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered a biblical stone weight used to determine the amount of silver for the common temple tax commended by Moses. Dated to the First Temple Period (c. 1000 – 586 BC) the tiny stone is engraved with the Hebrew word “beka,” a term used twice in the Bible for a half shekel. The find from the Temple Mount confirms the system of weights described in the Bible, and adds to the physical evidence supporting the existence of the temple – something that has been increasingly challenged in recent years.
The rare find was reported by the City of David, which is sifting archaeological soil in the Emek Tzurim National Park. The soil where the beka weight was found came from the foundations of the Western Wall, near the foot of Robinson’s Arch. The material had originally been excavated in 2013.
What Is a Beka?
Archaeologist Eli Shukron, who directed the excavations on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, explained in the announcement that, “When the half-shekel tax was brought to the Temple during the First Temple period, there were no coins, so they used silver ingots. In order to calculate the weight of these silver pieces they would put them on one side of the scales and on the other side they placed the beka weight.“Half-shekel coins were later minted and used for the tax in the Second Temple Period, but coins were not invented until around the time of the First Temple’s destruction in 586 BC. Before that time, silver was most commonly found among ordinary people in the form of small bits, thin rings and other jewelry. It was these items that would typically have been weighed against a beka stone to determine the proper weight of the tax.
This One Is Rare
The inscription written on the biblical stone weight in Old Hebrew or Paleo-Hebrew is unique. According to Shukron, “Beka weights from the First Temple period are rare; however this weight is even rarer, because the inscription on it is written in mirror script and the letters are engraved from left to right instead of right to left. It can therefore be concluded that the artist who engraved the inscription on the weight specialized in engraving seals, since seals were always written in mirror script so that once stamped the inscription would appear in regular legible script.“Apparently, the seal craftsman got confused when he engraved the inscription on the weight and mistakenly used mirror script as he was used to doing. From this mistake we can learn about the general rule: The artists who engraved weights during the First Temple period were the same artists who specialized in creating seals.”Confusion may not be the only explanation. Perhaps there was a double use for this biblical stone weight and its inscription that weighed the proper amount and also could help record a transaction if impressed on a seal.
Sifting for Evidence
According to an article in the Times of Israel, The biblical stone weight (or beka stone) was found by a volunteer in the City of David’s wet sifting project while washing material from a drainage canal under the foundation of the Western Wall. This would have been just below the southwest corner of the Temple Mount where Israelite pilgrims would have stopped to measure out their half-shekel tax before ascending to the temple entrance for worship in Solomon’s Temple.Shukron concluded, “The Bible, the artifact found close to Solomon’s Temple, north of the City of David, the Temple foundations – everything is connected.”
Bekas in the Bible
The term “beka” is first used in the Bible in Genesis 24:22 for the weight of a gold earring given by Abraham’s servant to Rebekah after meeting her at the well near Haran. He was seeking a bride for Abraham’s son, Isaac. The second use of this term comes from Exodus 38 where a donation is given by every man of Israel from twenty years old and upward during the census. This was at the time the tabernacle was being built.
The LORD said to Moses, “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the LORD when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the LORD. Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the LORD’s offering. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the LORD’s offering to make atonement for your lives. You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives.”
– Exodus 30:11-16 (ESV)
The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.
– Exodus 38:26 (ESV)
This defines a biblical talent at this time as equaling 3,000 shekels (other ancient systems of weights and measures used 3,600 shekels per talent). So the total collected from the Israelite men was 300,000 plus 1,775 shekels. 301,775 shekels equals 603,550 half shekels (or bekas), matching a half shekel from each man counted in the census. It is noteworthy that everyone contributed to the service of the tabernacle with the same small amount. A beka is thought to have equalled about ⅕ ounce or a little over 5 grams. At today’s silver prices of around $15 per ounce, that would be an offering of about $3 a person with their beka of silver. The exact weight of this biblical beka stone has not been reported.
Evidence for the Temple
This discovery also adds weight to the historical reality of the first temple (Solomon’s Temple) in Jerusalem. In recent decades, a growing challenge has been expressed (mainly by radical Muslim groups) that biblical temples never existed on the Temple Mount. No doubt, these claims are politically motivated, since many view the ancient presence of the Jewish temple as grounds for Israel’s ownership of the land in modern times.
Temple Mount Sifting Project
In 2008, Tim Mahoney traveled to Jerusalem where he interviewed Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay. Barkay of Tel Aviv University is a founder and director of the Temple Mount sifting project. This project uses volunteers from the public to sift through large amounts of material that was illegally removed from the Temple Mount for the construction of a mosque.The material has produced a wealth of evidence related to the temples that would otherwise never have been obtained. What follows is a section of that interview:MAHONEY: When we think about the Temple Mount, I understand there is much evidence that supports its existence.BARKAY: First of all, the Temple Mount is there. Second, the Bible refers to the temple of Jerusalem in Solomon’s time, and later in many references that the temple’s status already began to deteriorate a couple of centuries after it was inaugurated. So, you have the prophecies of the future destruction of the temple, you have condemnations of the worship in the temple, and the condemnations of the moral behavior of the priesthood in the temple, and about the lack of need of God in sacrifices. You have it frequently among the prophets.
You cannot speak of future destruction of a building, which didn’t exist. You cannot speak of corruption of the system in a building, which does not exist. The temple existed and I have no doubt of it. It was built somewhere in the 10th century BC. It existed for approximately 370 years and it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 BC.The Temple Mount was never ever excavated by any pre-initiated archeological expedition. The Temple Mount is out of limits to scientific archeology. Not even a single picture was ever published from the Temple Mount and it is a black hole in the history of science in Jerusalem. So whatever we can secure from inside the Temple Mount is a novelty.
Tiny Discoveries & Important Dates
MAHONEY: So what are the types of things you have found in this operation here?BARKAY: We have tens of thousands of finds. We have a small, tiny clay lump with the seal impression by a gentleman known by the name “son of Immer.” Now in Jeremiah chapter 20 there is the mentioning of a man in charge of worship in Solomon’s temple being known by the name of “son of Immer” and our bulla, our small stamped clay lump, is from that very same period. So we have direct regards from Solomon’s temple.
We have arrowheads shot by the Babylonian army of King Nebuchadnezzar. We have arrowheads shot by catapult machines of Titus in 70 AD, the destruction of the second temple. We have arrowheads even from the battles of Judas Maccabaeus, when the temple was re-inaugurated for which we celebrate Hanukkah until this very day.
So we have a very interesting presentation from the pre-Israelite periods, the Israelite Temple Mount, the Persian Period Temple Mount, we have representation from the Hellenistic Period, we have even stamped wine jars from Rhodes in the Aegean from the Hellenistic Period, we have Roman period, early Roman period. The Second Temple Period is very richly represented. We have some touching pieces also, maybe even from the temple itself.
Is There Proof?
MAHONEY: If we talk about temple denial and the Titus arch – how could there be no temple if the Romans celebrated its destruction in Rome. And you’ve given me other evidences.BARKAY: I don’t think that you need to have evidence, it is obvious. Again, water is wet. You don’t have to prove it.Listen, in 1817 we have in the Museum of Istanbul, a stone found in the Temple Mount prohibiting the Gentiles from entering in to the inner-precincts, and threatening them with the death penalty. The very same inscriptions are mentioned by Flavius Josephus. He mentions that there are such inscriptions prohibiting the Gentiles from entering into the precinct. In 1936 another copy of this inscription was found. It is in the Rockefeller Museum, you can go and see it. So, we have evidence from the temple on inscriptions we found here.In the 1970s there was found a piece from the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount having on it in Hebrew “the place of the blowing.” And in Talmudic literature and in Josephus there are many mentioning the priesthood blowing the trumpets from the corners of the Temple Mount to announce the Sabbath, and that’s in Hebrew.MAHONEY: So the historical evidence that relates to the biblical text is enormous.BARKAY: Yes, we have an abundance of material, which either directly or indirectly relates to the biblical evidence, no doubt.
Final Thoughts
The biblical stone weight joins a mass of other material supporting the reality of the temples in Jerusalem, along with a host of other biblical people, places and events. Perhaps one day the political climate will change, allowing formal excavation on the Temple Mount to proceed. The pattern of evidence produced by such an undertaking promises to be the richest yet discovered. Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: The biblical stone weight known as a beka that was found near the Western Wall in Jerusalem (credit: Eliyahu Yanai, City of David)
