Loading AI tools
Coins minted by the Jews of Judaea during the First JewishβRoman War From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
First Jewish Revolt coinage was issued by the Jews after the Zealots captured Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple from the Romans in 66 CE at the beginning of the First Jewish Revolt. The Jewish leaders of the revolt minted their own coins to emphasize their newly obtained independence from Rome.
In the Revolt's first year (66β67 CE), the Jews minted only silver coins, which were struck from the Temple's store of silver. The newly minted silver coins included shekels, half-shekels, and quarter-shekels, each being labelled with the year of minting and their denomination.[2] and depict a chalice on the obverse with the year of the revolt above, surrounded by the ancient Hebrew inscription "Shekel of Israel". Three budding pomegranates are featured on the reverse, with the inscription "Jerusalem the Holy".[3]
During the second (67β68 CE) and third (68β69 CE) years of the Revolt bronze prutah coins were issued, depicting an amphora, and with the date and the Hebrew inscription (ΧΧ¨ΧΧͺ Χ¦ΧΧΧhola Herut Zion)"The Freedom of Zion".
In the fourth year of the revolt (69β70 CE) three large sizes of bronze coins were minted, possibly because the supplies of Temple silver were diminishing. It is believed by numismatists that these coins were fractions of a shekel. The smaller of these coins also has the depiction of a chalice, together with symbols of the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot, a lulav and etrog, and the date and inscription "For the Redemption of Zion". This coin is usually called an 'eighth', probably being an eighth of a shekel. There is broad scholarly agreement that coins issued by the Judean government during the Revolt use an archaic Hebrew script and Jewish symbols including pomegranate buds, lulavs, etrogs, and phrases including "Shekel of Israel," and "The Freedom of Zion" (ΧΧ¨ΧΧͺ Χ¦ΧΧΧ Herut Zion,) as political statements intended to rally support for independence.[4]
The medium size coin has the same inscription, with the denomination "reva" (quarter) inscribed. An etrog is depicted on the obverse, and two lulav are on the reverse. The larger of the three bronze coins are inscribed "chatzi" (half). On the obverse a lulav and etrog are again depicted, with a palm tree and baskets on the reverse.[3] These coins are sometimes referred to as 'Masada coins'.
According to David Goodblatt, the use of the term "Freedom to Zion" on circulating coinage aimed to convey the rebels' goals to the masses, mobilizing them to fight for Zion. This can be compared to the ideals expressed in modern Zionism, particularly in the anthem "Hatikvah," suggesting that the rebels' ideology may be characterized as an early form of Zionism, "Zion nationalism."[5]
According to James S. McLaren, the names inscribed on the coins may represent three levels of identity: "Zion," referring to the Temple Mount; "Jerusalem," signifying its location; and "Israel," denoting the new Jewish state with Jerusalem as its capital.[6]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
