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Biblical weights, from the gerah to the kikar. Part of the Ancient Measures collection.
Every unit converts through grams: the shekel is taken as 11.4 g, the most-cited value, and the rest derive from it (gerah = shekel/20, bekah = shekel/2, maneh = 50 shekels, kikar = 3000 shekels). Worked example: the thirty shekels of silver of Exodus 21:32 = 30 × 11.4 = 342 g of silver. Weights varied by period and place — “the shekel of the sanctuary” and “the king’s weight” were not always identical; the values here are the standard scholarly equivalents.
About 11.4 grams of silver — roughly two-thirds the weight of a modern US half-dollar. Biblical prices in ‘shekels’ meant that weight of silver.
A talent: 3000 shekels, about 34.2 kg (75 lb). The largest biblical weight unit, used for Temple treasuries and royal gifts.
Half a shekel, about 5.7 g — the fixed Temple census tax (Ex 38:26): rich and poor paid the same.
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