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Tyrian Shekel (Temple Tax Coin)

The silver coin required for the half-shekel Temple tax — and the likely 'thirty pieces of silver'

Herod, Yeshua & Jerusalem's Fall · coin · Accepted by scholars · found 1960

Silver coin with a bearded male head on one side and an eagle on the other
Photo: Hanay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Found 1960 — Known from collections for centuries; excavated in quantity across Israel, notably a hoard of about 4,500 Tyrian shekels found at Isfiya on Mount Carmel in 1960, and coins from Qumran (1955) and Jerusalem

Where Tyre mint (Lebanon) and Jerusalem; finds across Israel (Lebanon / Israel)

Dates from 126 BCE–66 CE · Late Hellenistic–Early Roman · Second Temple; ministry of Yeshua

Now at Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Kadman Numismatic Pavilion, Tel Aviv; and many collections

How Tyrian Shekel (Temple Tax Coin) was found

Minted at Tyre (and, after c. 19 BCE, probably in Jerusalem itself with Tyre's designs), these coins turn up in hoards and Temple-period sites. The Isfiya hoard, mostly shekels and half-shekels with Augustan coins, is thought to be a Temple-tax shipment.

What it is

A silver shekel of about 14 grams and 95% purity, showing the head of the god Melqart (Heracles) on one side and an eagle on a ship's prow with 'Tyre the holy and inviolable' in Greek on the other. Despite the pagan images, the rabbis required the Temple tax in Tyrian silver because of its reliable weight and purity.

Why it matters for the Bible

This is the coin behind two Gospel scenes: the half-shekel Temple tax of Matthew 17, which Peter paid with a coin from a fish's mouth, and the money-changers Yeshua overturned, who converted pilgrims' coins into Tyrian silver. The 'thirty pieces of silver' paid to Judas were most likely thirty Tyrian shekels, the price of a slave in Exodus 21:32.

The Hebrew word: SHEH-kel

שֶׁקֶל

שֶׁקֶל is pronounced SHEH-kel and means shekel, a weight of silver (about 11–14 g) (Strong's H8255).

People this discovery connects to

Places

Events

Temple tax and the coin in the fish's mouth · Cleansing of the Temple · Thirty pieces of silver

Tyrian Shekel (Temple Tax Coin) in Scripture

Exodus 30:13 The half-shekel 'according to the shekel of the sanctuary' — the original command behind the Temple tax. (First mention of Half shekel (temple tax).)

Matthew 17:24-27 The two-drachma tax paid with a stater (a Tyrian shekel, worth two half-shekel taxes) from the fish's mouth.

Matthew 26:15 Thirty pieces of silver — most likely Tyrian shekels, the Temple's own currency.

Questions people ask

What is Tyrian Shekel (Temple Tax Coin)?
A silver shekel of about 14 grams and 95% purity, showing the head of the god Melqart (Heracles) on one side and an eagle on a ship's prow with 'Tyre the holy and inviolable' in Greek on the other. Despite the pagan images, the rabbis required the Temple tax in Tyrian silver because of its reliable weight and purity.

When was Tyrian Shekel (Temple Tax Coin) discovered?
It was found in 1960 by Known from collections for centuries; excavated in quantity across Israel, notably a hoard of about 4,500 Tyrian shekels found at Isfiya on Mount Carmel in 1960, and coins from Qumran (1955) and Jerusalem, at Tyre mint (Lebanon) and Jerusalem; finds across Israel.

Where is Tyrian Shekel (Temple Tax Coin) today?
Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Kadman Numismatic Pavilion, Tel Aviv; and many collections.

Which Bible verses does Tyrian Shekel (Temple Tax Coin) relate to?
Exodus 30:13, Matthew 17:24-27, Matthew 26:15.

Related discoveries

Sources

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