Shekel

A shekel or sheqel (Akkadian: ???, romanized: šiqlu, siqlu; Ugaritic: ???, romanized: ṯiql, Hebrew: שקל, romanized: šeqel, plural Hebrew: שקלים, romanized: šəqālim, Phoenician: ???) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35 ozt)—and became currency in ancient Tyre, Carthage and Hasmonean Judea.