Ancient Judaean / Phoenician Standard Square Lead Weight – Circa 4th–2nd Century BC – 18.89 Grams
Guaranteed genuine authentic ancient artifact with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Culture: Judaean / Phoenician (Hellenistic Levant)
Date: Circa 4th–2nd Century BC
Material: Solid Lead
Type: Square Market Balance Weight / Shekel Weight
Design: Raised Border with Incised Official Inspection Marks / Phoenician-Levantine Symbols
Weight: 18.89 grams
Description
An exceptional, highly important solid lead market balance weight from the ancient Southern Levant, operating on the combined trade routes of Judaea and the Phoenician coast during the Persian to Hellenistic periods. Weighing exactly 18.89 grams, this substantial, thick square block features a slightly raised perimeter border framing a deeply stamped primary face. The central field displays ancient Levantine commercial markings, including a clear circular/oval stamp and distinct denominational symbols.
The heavy lead has stabilized beautifully over the millennia, exhibiting a rich, authentic light-gray and charcoal-toned mineral patina. The flat faces, squared edges, and deep symbolic recesses are heavily layered with a rock-hard, untouched tan and cream-colored calcareous burial soil matrix, providing magnificent visual definition and superb three-dimensional contrast to the official stamps.
Historical & Metrological Context
During the late Iron Age through the Hellenistic period, lead weights were the standard workhorses of local municipal markets across the Levantine coast and the interior of Judaea. Unlike elite bronze or stone weights, lead could be easily stamped, adjusted, and officially validated by city market controllers (agoranomoi).
At 18.89 grams, this specimen aligns perfectly with the heavy regional trade adaptations of the Phoenician Standard. It corresponds directly to a Double Shekel variant or a specialized fractional unit used to balance silver bullion, regional coinages, or high-value trade goods like cedar oil, purple dyes, and imported spices. The primary face markings served as official validation stamps, proving to traveling merchants and local buyers alike that the weight met the strict legal criteria of the regional trade network.
Condition & Authenticity
Condition: Excellent archaeological condition. The lead structure is entirely solid, stable, and intact, showing an incredibly robust profile with zero active degradation, modern paring, or loss. The ancient stamped symbols remain clean and legible under the soil.
10-3
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