Half shekel

Shekel (Akkadian: šiqlu or siqlu; Hebrew: שקל‎‎, pl. shekels or sheqalim) is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley. This shekel was about 180 grains (11 grams or .35 troy ounces).

The Hebrew word shekel is based on the verbal root for "weighing" (ŠQL), cognate to the Akkadian šiqlu or siqlu, a unit of weight equivalent to the Sumerian gin2. Use of the word was first attested in c. 2150 BC during the Akkadian Empire under the reign of Naram-Sin, and later in c. 1700 BC in the Code of Hammurabi. The ŠQL root is found in the Hebrew words for "to weigh" (shaqal), "weight" (mishqal) and "consideration" (shiqqul), and is related to the TQL root in Aramaic and the ΘQL root in Arabic, such as the words thiqal (the weight) or Mithqal (unit of weight). The famous writing on the wall in the Biblical Book of Daniel includes a cryptic use of the word in Aramaic: "Mene, mene, teqel, u-farsin". The word "shekel" came into the English language via the Hebrew Bible, where it is first used in the Book of Genesis.

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