shekel

thumb|300px|An electrum Carthaginian shekel, c. 310–290 BC, bearing the image of [[Tanit, consort of Baal Hammon]] A shekel or sheqel (; , , plural , ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight of a value that varied over time and by issuing authority. It was also used in ancient Tyre, Carthage, Philistia and Hasmonean Judea.

==Name== The word is based on the triliteral Proto-Semitic root , cognate to the Akkadian or , a unit of weight equivalent to the Sumerian . Use of the word was first attested in under the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad, and later in in the Code of Hammurabi. The Hebrew reflex of the root is found in the Hebrew words for "to weigh" (), "weight" () and "consideration" (). It is cognate to the Aramaic root and the Arabic root (ث ق ل, in words such as "weight", "heavy" or , a unit of weight). The famous writing on the wall in the Book of Daniel includes a cryptic use of the word in Aramaic: "".