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Exodus 30: 13-16) to collect a half-shekel tax, the shekel being 20
gerah of the shekel of the sanctuary, at the time of each census. During the time of Moses there were no coins, so we understand this to mean the weight of half a shekel, according to the standards set by the sanctuary. Subsequently, it is suggested that the half-shekel was paid annually (
II Kings 12 5-17 and
Nehemiah 10:32-33). In the
Book of Nehemiah, it was referred to as a “third-shekel” but scholars generally believe that this was either an error of transcription or a reference to Persian weight standards, commonly used in coins of the day. The Temple tax is also mentioned in
Jessica Steinberg covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center.
Token with The Nativity, Syria-Palestine, 6th-7th century CE, Terracotta, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Bequest of Dan Barag, Jerusalem (Courtesy Eli Posner)
A unique Byzantine-era blessing token featuring baby Jesus was recently unveiled by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, harking back to a time before a pandemic kept pilgrims from thronging Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity on Christmas.
Eulogia, Greek for blessed objects, were small souvenirs collected by early Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land.
The token depicts a nativity scene, with the baby Jesus at its center in a crib, a bull and a donkey above him. It likely belonged to a pilgrim who visited Bethlehem in the 6th or 7th century CE, given the architectural style of the Church of the Nativity depicted on the eulogium, said Morag Wilhelm, assistant curator of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine archeology at the museum.