Ronny Reich, Haifa University

Stone Scale-Weights of the Late Second Temple Period, Israel Exploration Society, Jerusalem, 2015

Scale-weights played an important role in the economic life of ancient times. Coins and weights facilitated considerably commercial activity in the market. The present study examines the entire known corpus of stone scale-weights – 598 altogether – which were in use in the Land of  Israel during the late Second Temple period (the early Roman period), particularly in Jerusalem. It is the largest corpus of its kind, of any time, found in this country. The important affinity of the items gathered in this study is the fact that their vast majority originate from licensed excavations, hence the conclusions on the provenance of their use, as well as their chronology, are of significance. The large number of the weights presented grant importance to the metrological study and to the average figures for the masses of the various groups of weights.

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