STUDIES IN MEMORY OF

DAN BARAG

Edited by: ROBERT DEUTSCH

AND

BOAZ ZISSU

THE ISRAEL NUMISMATIC JOURNAL

VOL. 18
JERUSALEM 2014

ISRAEL NUMISMATIC JOURNAL

FOUNDED BY L. KADMAN

Editorial Board: R. Deutsch, B. Zissu (editors), R. Barkay, N. Amitai-Preiss,

Y. Farhi
Style and Copy Editor: D. Stern
Proofreader: J.M. Gozlan

The publication of this issue was made possible by the generous contribution of
Dr. David and Jemima Jeselsohn, Zurich, Switzerland.

All correspondence, papers for publication and books for review should be
addressed to:
Israel Numismatic Journal, c/o Dr. Robert Deutsch, 26 Kaplan Street, Herzliya
Pituah, 46728, Israel, or to rd@robert-deutsch.com
Copyright B Israel Numismatic Journal / Dr. Robert Deutsch
The editors are not responsible for opinions expressed by the contributors.
ISSN 1565-4079
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Printed by Old City Press, Jerusalem, Israel

ISRAEL NUMISMATIC JOURNAL

VOLUME 18

2011-14

CONTENTS
9

NITZAN AMITAI-PREISS: Dan Barag In Memoriam

10

RACHEL BARKAY: A Bibliography of Dan Barag

15

ROBERT DEUTSCH AND ALAN MILLARD: Ten Unpublished West Semitic

Bronze Weights

27

YIGAL RONEN: Some Unrecorded Yehud Coins

31

CATHARINE C. LORBER: An Abortive Era Under Ptolemy IV Philopator?

39

MICHAEL KRUPP: The Die Cutters of Hasmonean Coins

46

NIKOLAUS SCHINDEL: A Note on the Production of Hasmonean Coins

51

EYAL REGEV: A Comparison of the High-Priestly Coins of the

Hasmoneans with their Hellenistic Counterparts

59

RONNY REICH, DAVID AMIT AND RACHEL BAR-NATHAN: VolumeMeasuring Devices from the Late Second Temple Period

69

ANDREW BURNETT: The Coinage of Agrippa I

107

RACHEL BARKAY: The Coinage of the Nabataean King Malichus II

(40-70 CE)

122

SAMUEL ROCCA: Domitians Attitude towards the Jews in Light of His

Numismatic Output

146

BOAZ ZISSU, BOAZ LANGFORD, DVIR RAVIV, URI DAVIDOVICH, ROI

PORAT AND AMOS FRUMKIN: Coins from the Elqana Cave in Western
Samaria

155

DAVID HENDIN: On the Identity of Eleazar the Priest

168

EITAN KLEIN: A Remark on Roman Provincial Coins Found in Refuge

Caves in the Judean Desert

173

LIOR SANDBERG: The Coinage of Eleutheropolis (Beth Guvrin) in the

Roman Period

184

YOAV FARHI AND UZI LEIBNER: Coins from the Rock Shelters and
Fortified Enclosure of Mt. Nitai, Eastern Lower Galilee

198

ZEEV SAFRAI: Where are the Fifth-Century Coins?

209

AVNER ECKER AND TALI SHARVIT: A Byzantine Lead Seal (11th-12th

c.) from the Monastery of St. Theodosius (Deir Dosi) in the Dan Barag
Collection in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem

215

NITZAN AMITAI-PREISS: A New Umayyad Mint Rediscovered

222

NITZAN AMITAI-PREISS: An Arabic-Inscribed Lead Weight from Beth

Guvrin

224

NITZAN AMITAI-PREISS AND ARIEL BERMAN: An Unpublished, Dated

Umayyad Lead Weight

228

JOSEPH SHAHAM: A Medallion with a Moving Story

236

ACHIM LICHTENBERGER: Review of: Michael Krupp, Die

Hasmonaischen Munzen (Jerusalem, 2011).

238

LIST OF ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS

241

ABBREVIATIONS

Volume-Measuring Devices from

the Late Second Temple Period
RONNY REICH, DAVID AMIT,* AND RACHEL BAR-NATHAN

OF the soft limestone (chalk) vessels used by the Jewish community in the last
century of the Second Temple period, the most abundant type is the handmade
stone mug. It is usually knife-pared from a stone block and comes in various
sizes. In the past, these mugs were thought to be used for measuring liquids;
hence they were dubbed measuring cups, a term still found in the scientific
literature even though it has been demonstrated that this was not their purpose.1
Another type of stone vessel, which has escaped the attention of scholars due to
its rarity, was indeed used to measure volumes of liquids. These vessels are the
subject of the present study.
JERUSALEM: JEWISH QUARTER EXCAVATIONS, AREA B
The recently published report from the archaeological excavations in the Jewish
Quarter of Jerusalem discusses a stone object of extraordinary shape. The object
was discovered in Area B of N. Avigads excavation, later dubbed the Burnt
House.2 Since it was found in the kitchen of a private house rather than in the
market, the suggestion was made that it may have been related to food
preparation, allowing simultaneous measurement of equal parts of different
commodities.3 Some alternative possibilities suggested by Geva are that it was
related to the many stone weights discovered in the house and the measurement
of priestly Temple offerings, or that the homeowner served as an agoranomos and
used it for his work.
The object has a row of three conical, funnel-like hollows carved out of a
block of chalk. Each of the funnels has a small hole at the pointed end of the
cone. Apparently, to use this device one would close the small hole at the bottom
by inserting a stopper, or else by applying a flat surface or even a flattened hand

*
1
2
3

Dr. David Amit N"H passed away on March 23, 2013, and regrettably did not see this
article in print.
R. Reich: Stone Mugs (Measuring Cups) from Masada and Their Function, in J. Aviram
(ed.): Masada: Final Reports, vol. 7, Jerusalem, 2007, pp. 512522.
N. Avigad: Discovering Jerusalem, Nashville, 1983, pp. 120139.
H. Geva: Stone Artifacts, in H. Geva (ed.): Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of
Jerusalem, Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 19691982, vol. 4: The Burnt House of Area B
and Other Studies: Final Report, Jerusalem, 2010, p. 178, fig. 15.4:2.

59

60

RONNY REICH, DAVID AMIT, AND RACHEL BAR-NATHAN

to it, and then pour liquid into the conical cavity to gauge a specific volume. The
stopper method seems to be more convenient in the long run, although it reduces
the volume of the conical cavity slightly.
The Mishnah tells us about various means of closing and employing funnels
that seem to resemble the present device: A funnel belonging to householders is
not susceptible to uncleanness, but one that belongs to peddlers is susceptible,
since it serves as a measure as well.4 The commentator R. Ovadiah Bertinoro
explains (ad loc.): The merchant puts his finger under it against the hole and
measures oil in it. Then he removes his finger and the oil flows down into the
customers vessels. Further on in the Mishnah, a more permanent sealing
method is described: If a wooden or earthenware funnel is stopped up with
pitch, R. Eleazar b. Azariah declares it susceptible to uncleanness. R. Akiba
declares it susceptible if it is wooden but insusceptible if it is of earthenware. R.
Jose declares both susceptible.5
A photograph published by N.
Avigad shows the device together with
the other objects from the kitchen in
which it was discovered.6 Now details
pertaining to the precise measurements of the object and the volume
of the conical cavities have been
published. According to Geva, the
volumes are 233, 217, and 242 cm3,
including the small circular perforation at the end (or bottom).7 A
calculation gives a mean volume of
230.7 cc, with one cavity holding
5.9% less and the others holding
1.0% and 4.9% more than the average. These differences are similar in
magnitude to the differences in con- Fig. 1: Volume-measuring device from the
Burnt House (Area B), Jerusalem.
temporary stone scale-weights discovered in Jerusalem.8 The lighter and

4
5
6
7
8

M Kelim 2:4.
Ibid., 3:8.
Avigad (n. 2 above), ill. 137.
Geva (n. 3 above), p. 178.
R. Reich: Stone Vessels, Weights and Architectural Fragments, in H. Geva: Jewish
Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem, Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969
1982, vol. 2: The Finds from Areas A, W and X-2: Final Report, Jerusalem, 2003, pp. 267
268, pl. 8.3, no. 10.

VOLUME-MEASURING DEVICES FROM THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

61

heavier weights deviate from the mean to similar extents.

The combined volume of all three conical cavities is 692 cc. If the perforations
at the bottom were closed with stoppers, their volume can be deducted from the
volume of the device, giving a total of about 680685 cc.
Although the three conical cavities are not identical in volume, we should
keep in mind that the object was found damaged and the shapes of the cavities
were reconstructed, so it may well be that their original capacities were more
similar than the figures presented above. If these small differences in volume
among the three cavities had some significance, it would be very difficult to
determine what it might be, as there are no external marks incised or drawn on
the object. The inevitable conclusion is that despite the small differences in
volume among the conical funnels, we should regard them as identical in volume,
with a mean value of 230 cc. Presumably, the object was used to divide a large
volume of 690 cc into three identical quantities.
JERUSALEM: THE JEWISH QUARTER, AREA A
A small fragment of a similar object was found in Area A of the same
excavation.9 It includes parts of two adjacent conical cavities. Their maximum
diameter is approximately 9 cm, and their depth is about 7.5 cm. From the
surviving fragment it is clear that the cavities were similar in size to those in the
object from Area B.

Fig. 2: Fragment from Area A.

Ibid., fig. 8.3, no. 10.

62

RONNY REICH, DAVID AMIT, AND RACHEL BAR-NATHAN

JERUSALEM: MT. SCOPUS STONE QUARRY

A large fragment of a volume-measuring device was found among the
substantial amounts of production waste and discarded objects in a workshop
located in a first-century-CE underground quarry, excavated on the eastern slope
of Mt. Scopus.10 Originally, the object, which had been broken and discarded
during production, was mistakenly identified as a lid and drawn accordingly. It
is, in fact, the edge of the upper stone board from which a cone extends down.
The board is 19 cm wide and 44.5 cm thick. The fragment is approximately 10
13 cm long but seems to have originally been approximately 60 cm long. The
maximum inner diameter of the conical funnel is 7.5 cm, and its reconstructed
depth from the board surface is about 13 cm. It should be kept in mind that these
measurements are not those of a finished object, as the carving of the device was
interrupted when the stone broke. The most common types of stone vessels
especially the mugs (measuring cups), bowls, and large qalal-type containers
were produced here in large quantities, whether by the manual knife-paring
technique, with a mechanical lathe, or by a combined technique.11 In contrast,
elsewhere only small quantities were produced, because there was very little
demand for them, as discussed below.

Fig. 3: Fragment of object from Mt. Scopus.

10

D. Amit, J. Seligman, and I. Zilberbod: Stone Vessel Production Caves on the Eastern
Slope of Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, in Y. M. Rowan and J. R. Ebeling (eds.): New
Approaches to Old Stones: Recent Studies of Ground Stone Artifacts, London, p. 340, fig.
16.20, 5.

11 D. Amit: Manufacture of Stone Vessels in Jerusalem and the Galilee: Technological,

Chronological and Typological Aspects, Michmanim 20 (2010), pp. 4966 (Hebrew).

VOLUME-MEASURING DEVICES FROM THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

63

SHUAFAT
An almost intact measuring table was discovered in excavations at Shuafat,
located northwest of Jerusalem, near Tell el-Ful. The settlement excavated was
established in 69 CE, i.e., shortly before the sack of Jerusalem by the Romans,
and was abandoned sometime around 126/7 CE, shortly before the Bar Kokhba
Revolt.12
The measuring table is carved out of soft chalk. Rectangular in outline, it
measures 30 T 46 cm and has rounded corners and a raised rim all around. The
surface is divided into three rectangular units, approximately 13 T 25 cm each,
separated by two raised dividers that cross the table surface widthwise. Within
each unit is a funnel-shaped conical hollow or cavity. Both dividers have been
obliterated on one side of the table (from the funnels to the outer rim), but their
remains are still visible. The upper rims of the cavities protrude slightly above the
surface of the table. Each cavity has a perforation at the bottom measuring
approximately 1 cm in diameter. The cavities were measured with dry sand and
found to have the following volumes: 370 cm3 for the central cavity, and 270 cm3
and 250 cm3 for the side cavities. Their combined volume adds up to 890 cm3.
Perforations were drilled in the table surface on either side of the central cavity.
Any liquids that spilled over the edge of the cavity would have collected on the
table surface and drained through the holes to a collecting container underneath.
Shallow holes were drilled in the corners of the raised rim of the table and in the
raised rims of the cavities; these may have held another installation or a vessel for
pouring liquids into the cavities.

Fig. 4: Volume-measuring device from Shuafat.

12 R. Bar-Nathan and D. A. Sklar-Parnes: A Jewish Settlement in Orine between the Two

Revolts, in J. Patrich and D. Amit (eds.): New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and
Its Region, vol. 1, Jerusalem, 2007, pp. 5764 (Hebrew). The excavations were directed by
D. Sklar-Parnes in 20032005 and by R. Bar-Nathan in 20062007. The object under
discussion was found in the later excavations.

64

RONNY REICH, DAVID AMIT, AND RACHEL BAR-NATHAN

JAFFA
In an assemblage of stone objects found in a mansion excavated by J. Kaplan in
Jaffa (Area C), a fragment of an object similar to the one from Mt. Scopus was
discovered. It is more fragmentary than the other objects discussed here.13
Obviously, this is not a case of manufacturing waste. It was part of an object that
was in use until the moment it broke (when the house was destroyed?); what has
survived is but a fraction of a much larger object. There is no doubt, however,

Fig. 5: Fragment of object from Jaffa.

that the object contained a funnel, of which only the upper diameter can be
reconstructed. Based on the other three-funnel objects, we can assume there were
two more funnels here. We are not sure whether the funnels in this object were
identical in size and volume, like the object from the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem,
or whether they differed in size and volume, like the one from Maresha (see
below). Some support for the latter possibility can be derived from a stone mould
for casting lead weights, found in the same mansion; it bears the Greek
inscription of the agoranomos Judah, most probably the homeowner.14
MARESHA
An intact volume-measuring device was discovered at Maresha.15 It is a
rectangular stone block decorated with lion heads and containing four conical,
13

D. Amit and Y. Adler: The Stone Vessels, in O. Tsuf (ed.): The Port Town of Ancient Jaffa
during the Persian-Byzantine Period: The Jacob Kaplan Excavations at Jaffa, Jerusalem,
forthcoming..
14 J. Kaplan: Evidence of the Trajanic Period at Jaffa, Eretz-Israel 15 (1981) (Y. Aharoni
Volume), pp. 412416 (Hebrew); L. Di Segni: Dated Greek Inscriptions from Palestine from
the Roman and Byzantine Periods, Ph.D. dissertation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
1997, nos. 133AC.
15 G. Finkielsztejn: A Standard of Volumes for Liquids from Hellenistic Marisa, Atiqot 38
(1999), pp. 5164.

VOLUME-MEASURING DEVICES FROM THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

65

funnel-like cavities of various sizes. A Greek inscription in the margins attests

that this device was used by a local agoranomos. The main difference between the
Maresha object (identified as a sekoma) and the other ones discussed here is that
in the Maresha device the cavities are of different sizes, each one double the size
of the one adjacent to it. The four volumes in the Maresha device are 64, 125,
235, and 480 cm3. The cavity with a volume of 235 cm3 is almost identical in size
to one of the three cavities in the device from Area B (233 cm3), the difference
being less than one percent.
The three aforementioned objects found in Jerusalem are the only ones of this
type known in the area. We are aware of the scientific principle of not drawing
conclusions from the absence of evidence. Nevertheless, large assemblages of
stone vessels and other stone objects in and around Jerusalem have been
excavated and published,16 and most types occur in them in large numbers,
whereas the present type of object, which is easily identifiable even in a small
fragment, is totally absent in them. Based on these considerations, we can say
that such objects were rare in the Late Second Temple period.

Fig. 6: Volume-measuring device

(sekoma) from Maresha.

16 S. Gibson: The Stone Vessel Industry at Hizma, IEJ 33 (1983), pp. 176188; J. M. Cahill:
Chalk Vessel Assemblages of the Persian/Hellenistic and Early Roman Periods, in A. DeGroot and D. T. Ariel (eds.): Excavations at the City of David 19781985, Directed by
Yigal Shiloh (Qedem, no. 33), Jerusalem, 1992, pp. 190274; Y. Magen: The Stone Vessel
Industry in the Second Temple Period: Excavations at Hizma and the Jerusalem Temple
Mount, Jerusalem, 2002; Reich (n. 8 above), pp. 263291; H. Geva: Stone Artifacts, in H.
Geva (ed.): Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem, Conducted by
Nahman Avigad, 19691982, vol. 3: Area E and Other Studies: Final Report, Jerusalem,
2006, pp. 218238; Geva (n. 3 above); D. Amit, J. Seligman, and I. Zilberbod: Stone
Vessel Workshops of the Second Temple Period East of Jerusalem, in H. Geva (ed.):
Ancient Jerusalem Revealed, expanded ed., Jerusalem, 2000, pp. 353358.

66

RONNY REICH, DAVID AMIT, AND RACHEL BAR-NATHAN

DISCUSSION
Whereas the device from Maresha was a liquid-measurement standard used by an
agoranomos and could serve to calibrate other vessels, the objects from Jerusalem
and Shuafat were clearly not used as such. We know this because they include
only a single volume,17 and particularly because it is there three times. We believe
that the presence of three identical volume funnels indicates that its purpose is
different. What we have here, it seems, is a device for dividing a certain volume of
liquid into three equal, or almost equal, parts. All three funnels were closed at the
bottom and then filled to the rim, or slightly below. Together, the three cavities
provided the desired total volume. The question is whether we know of any
specific activity conducted in the Late Second Temple period for which division
of a certain volume into three equal parts was required.
The devices from Maresha, Jerusalem, and Shuafat are rare. The rarity of the
Maresha device is logical, as it was not for daily use by every individual or even
every merchant, but was used by the overseer of markets, the agoranomos, a
position held by just one person at any given time. The Maresha device may even
have been passed down from the official to his successor.
In contrast to the rarity of the volume-measuring devices from Jerusalem and
Shuafat is the abundance of contemporary stone scale-weights. This point
should be stressed because both types of objects were devices made for
measuring: one for weight, the other for volume.
In the case of the large number of stone scale-weights discovered in private
houses in the Upper City (168 in all), one of the authors (RR) has claimed that
they are related less to commerce than to the offerings given to the families of
priests, who resided in large numbers in the city, and especially in the Upper
City.18 The residents of the Burnt House, in which the volume-measuring device
was discovered, are known to have belonged to the priestly clan, as attested by a
weight inscribed d]bry Qtrs Qatros being a family known from the rabbinic
literature to be of priestly origin. This idea has already been accepted by others.19
17 It should be noted that the three cavities in the object in Area B of the Jewish Quarter are
similar in volume, whereas this is not the case with the Shuafat object. On this point the
present authors disagree: RR believes that the Shuafat object should be regarded as
similar in function to the Jewish Quarter object, while RBN believes it was similar in
function to the Maresha sekoma..
18 R. Reich: The Stone Scale-Weights of the Late Second Temple Period from the Jewish
Quarter, in H. Geva (ed.): Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem,
Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 19691982, vol. 3: Area E and Other Studies: Final Report,
Jerusalem, 2006, pp. 329388.
19 J. Schwartz: Bar Qatros and the Priestly Families of Jerusalem, in H. Geva (ed.): Jewish
Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem, Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969
1982, vol. 4: The Burnt House of Area B and Other Studies: Final Report, Jerusalem, 2010,
pp. 308319.

VOLUME-MEASURING DEVICES FROM THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

67

Whereas the many scale-weights indicate that weighing was commonly done in
private houses, the rarity of the volume-measuring devices suggests that the
measuring of volume was not.
However, the rabbinic literature, and particularly the tractate Menahot, notes
that volumes of liquids were measured in Jerusalem of the Late Second Temple
period quite often. Menahot (pl. of minha) are priestly offerings that are not from
the animal world. They are made of solet (sifted fine flour) mixed with oil and
frankincense. There are many types of menahot, and the rules for their
preparation are numerous. Menahot were prepared within the Temple Mount
precincts; hence the requisite volumes were measured there. The flour had to be
prepared and the oil poured over it, although we have no indication of how the
oil was poured on the flour. The minimum amount of oil used was one log.20
According to the Mishnah, All meal-offerings that are prepared in a vessel
require three applications of oil.21 From this we can deduce that the oil was not
poured in one continuous motion but in parts perhaps three parts.
A one-log volume-measuring device was used in the Temple22 primarily to
measure oil for the menahot. Obviously, to measure multiples of a log, one could
use the same device and simply measure out one log after another.23 The rabbinic
literature occasionally mentions the use of fractions of logs, such as half a log,24 a
log and a half,25 or three and a half logs.26 The Mishnah reports special
measuring devices for these fractions: There were seven liquid measures in the
Temple a log, a half-log, and a quarter-log.27 There is no explicit mention in the
rabbinic literature of a device for measuring a third of a log.
Anyone who wished to pour a log of oil on the flour in three parts (literally,
three givings) as stated in Menahot 6:3, and wanted the portions to be equali.e., a third of a log each would have found the devices under discussion very
helpful. We have no way to prove that such devices were used on the Temple
Mount. The object from Area B may be a copy made by a member of the Qatros
family who had seen it used on the Temple Mount.
Does the volume of the objects under discussion correspond to any liquid
measure used in the Late Second Temple period? The only candidate would seem
to be the log. We are not certain of the precise size of a log in those days.
Talmudic scholars have come to extremely different conclusions based on

20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

M Menahot 13:5.
Ibid., 6:3.
Ibid., 9:3.
Ibid., 13:5; M Sukkah 4:9.
M Menahot 9:3.
Ibid., 9:2.
Ibid., 9:3.
Ibid., 9:2.

68

RONNY REICH, DAVID AMIT, AND RACHEL BAR-NATHAN

different considerations. The starting point for their calculations is usually the
volume of an egg, as a log is equal to the volume of six eggs. Opinions on the
volume of a log range from 345 to 597 cm3. The only study that has attempted to
reconstruct the volume of the ancient log based on measuring contemporary
objects was done by A. Ben-David,28 who measured several stone mugs
(measuring cups) and concluded that the Jerusalem log held 549 cm3.29 In a
recent study, however, one of the present authors (RR) refuted Ben-Davids
theory that the measuring cups were used for measuring,30 based on actually
measuring several dozen such stone mugs with water or fine sand.
The combined volume of the three funnel-shaped cavities in the Area B object
is 692 cm3, and that of the Shuafat object is 892 cm3. Unfortunately, we have no
way of knowing whether either of these was indeed the volume of the log used in
the Late Second Temple period.
Alternatively, the volume-measuring device from Area B may relate to a
totally different system for measuring volume. The volume of 235 cm3 observed
by Finkielsztejn in one of the four cavities of the Maresha sekoma certainly
represents one  (kotit in the rabbinic literature [Sifra Kedoshim, chap. 8]),
a measure in use in the Hellenistic realm.
SUMMARY
The stone objects from the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem and from Shuafat are
certainly devices for measuring liquids. They are rare among the abundant stone
objects from the first century CE. They are also rare in comparison to another
type of measuring device: stone scale-weights. The objects were not of the sekoma
type, used for calibrating other vessels. They may have been made to facilitate the
division of a certain volume into three equal parts. Currently, we do not have
enough evidence to determine whether the objects are related to the
 log and the
need to divide it into three equal parts, or alternatively, to the  and a need
to measure three of them simultaneously. Any additional discovery related to this
type of object will enhance our understanding of it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to Oded Raviv for his assistance in measuring the Shuafat
measuring device.
28 A. Ben-David: Ha-Middah ha-Yerushalmit: An Archaeological Solution of a TalmudicMetrological Problem, IEJ 19 (1969), pp. 158169.
29 Ibid., p. 163.
30 Reich (n. 1 above).