The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations
A First Temple-period stone weight inscribed with the biblical half-shekel unit, in mirror writing
Found 2018 — Volunteer at the Emek Tzurim wet-sifting project; excavation directed by Eli Shukron (Israel Antiquities Authority)
Where Foundations of the Western Wall near Robinson's Arch (soil sifted at Emek Tzurim), Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) (Israel)
Dates from 8th–7th century BCE · Iron Age IIB–C · Kings of Judah, when the Temple tax was collected
Now at Israel Antiquities Authority collections
How The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations was found
Found while sifting soil removed from beneath Robinson's Arch at the foundations of the Western Wall, during Shukron's excavation of the Second Temple drainage channel. Announced November 2018.
What it is
A small dome-shaped limestone weight, a little over a centimetre across, incised in Paleo-Hebrew with the word beka. The letters were cut in mirror image, as if by a seal-cutter used to engraving in reverse. A beka is half a shekel, about 5.7 grams.
Why it matters for the Bible
The beka is named in the Torah as the exact amount each Israelite man paid for the sanctuary, and it is the unit Avraham's servant used for Rivkah's nose ring. This is one of only a handful of inscribed beka weights known, and the first found next to the Temple Mount, where such half-shekel payments were brought. It shows the biblical weight system in physical use in Yerushalayim in the First Temple period.
The Hebrew word: BEH-kah
בֶּקַע
בֶּקַע is pronounced BEH-kah and means beka, a half-shekel weight (Strong's H1235).
Places
- Temple Mount — הַר הַבַּיִת (har hah-BAH-yit) — mountain of the House
Events
The half-shekel sanctuary offering
The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations in Scripture
Exodus 38:26 'A beka a head, that is, half a shekel'; the weight carries this exact word.
Questions people ask
What is The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations?
A small dome-shaped limestone weight, a little over a centimetre across, incised in Paleo-Hebrew with the word beka. The letters were cut in mirror image, as if by a seal-cutter used to engraving in reverse. A beka is half a shekel, about 5.7 grams.
When was The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations discovered?
It was found in 2018 by Volunteer at the Emek Tzurim wet-sifting project; excavation directed by Eli Shukron (Israel Antiquities Authority), at Foundations of the Western Wall near Robinson's Arch (soil sifted at Emek Tzurim), Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).
Where is The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations today?
Israel Antiquities Authority collections.
Which Bible verses does The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations relate to?
Exodus 38:26.
Related discoveries
- שֶׁקֶלThe Two-Shekel Weight from the Western Wall PlazaA First Temple-period limestone weight of exactly 23 grams with a clumsily copied shekel sign
- נִקְבָּהSiloam InscriptionHebrew record of the moment two tunnelling crews met under Jerusalem
- עֶבֶד הַמֶּלֶךְSeal of Shema, Servant of JeroboamA roaring lion and the name of a royal official of Jeroboam II, from Megiddo
- יְרוּשָׁלִַםThe 'Jerusalem' PapyrusA scrap of Hebrew papyrus recording wine sent 'to Yerushalayim', seized from looters and hotly debated
- יַיִן יָשָׁןSamaria OstracaWine and oil receipts from the royal storehouse in the days of Jeroboam II
- אָסִיףGezer CalendarA farmer's year scratched on limestone in the oldest Hebrew-style script
Sources
- Israel Nature and Parks Authority, 'A Beka weight from the First Temple period was discovered in the Emek Tzurim sifting project'
- Haaretz, 'Second First Temple Weight, This One With Mirror Writing, Found in Jerusalem Sifting Project' (Nov 2018)
Open The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations in Hebrew Explorer →