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Ancient Judaea Lead Commercial Market Weight with Octagonal Framework (18.41g — 1.5 Shekel / c. 1st Century BC – 1st Century AD)
Authenticity & Guarantee
Item Specifications & Exact Dimensions
Object: Cast Lead Commercial Market Weight (Plumbum Weight) with Inscribed Octagonal Framework
Culture / Period: Ancient Judaea / Levantine Commercial Sphere (Hasmonean / Herodian to Early Roman Provincial Era)
Date Range: Circa 1st Century BC – 1st Century AD (c. 100 BC – 100 AD)
Weight: 18.41 grams (conforms precisely to the Levantine 1.5 Shekel / 4-Drachm Stater trade mass standard)
Material: Cast Lead (Plumbum)
Form & Architecture: Heavy, thick circular lead disk; obverse features a sharply raised octagonal cartouche framing administrative monograms and regnal/magisterial letters; reverse displays a wreath or stylized palm motif enclosed within a raised circular rim
Condition: Exceptional, complete ancient condition. Unusually sharp octagonal border, crisp relief monograms, heavy solid lead density, preserved under an authentic thick white-cream to dark charcoal lead-carbonate (cerussite) oxidation patina with natural light earthen burial deposits. Free of modern restoration or tooling.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT & TYPOLOGICAL LORE
Second Temple & Herodian Market Administration
In the urban centers of late Hellenistic and Roman Judaea (such as Jerusalem, Tiberias, Sepphoris, and Gaza), market trade was strictly controlled by municipal officials called agoranomoi. To ensure fair trade in food, oil, wine, and precious metals, these inspectors commissioned cast lead weights bearing official civic stamps, regnal dates, or magisterial monograms.
Octagonal Framing & Weight Verification
The use of an octagonal inner border was a deliberate design choice by Levantine municipal mints and local rulers (including the Herodian dynasty and regional city-states). Framing the administrative letters inside an octagon visually signaled to consumers that the 18.41g lead mass was legally certified by the city\'s market authorities.
Metrological Standard: 1.5 Shekels / 4 Drachms
At 18.41 grams, this specimen aligns with the 1.5 Shekel Levantine standard (or a 4-Drachm / Stater coin weight equivalent). Merchants used these precise lead standards on balance scales (libra) to verify silver currency purity and weigh high-value trade commodities across Judaean marketplaces.
Typological Analysis & Exact Classification
Comparable Archaeological Examples & Museum Accession Numbers
Israel Museum, Jerusalem: Herodian and Roman provincial lead market weights with octagonal and geometric borders.
Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA Collection, Tiberias & Sepphoris Excavations): Inscribed lead weights of the 1st century BC to 1st century AD bearing civic monograms.
British Museum (Accession No. 1920,0612.45): Levantine lead commercial weight with framed administrative inscription.
TRN1-6
