Editing Shekel (section)

===Second Temple period half-Shekel Temple tax===<!--This section is linked from [[Moed]] and [[Adar]] and [[Hurvat Itri]] ([[MOS:HEAD]])-->
[[File:Shekel - Coins of Second Temple period.jpg|thumb|Shekel from the First Jewish–Roman War with the legend לגאלת ציון, "To the redemption of Zion",<ref>{{cite web |title=Ancient Jewish Coins: Coins from the First Revolt (66–70 CE)|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/coins-from-the-first-revolt|website=Jewish Virtual Library|publisher=American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise|access-date=26 October 2021}}</ref> in [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo-Hebrew]] script, at the [[Rockefeller Archeological Museum]]]]
During the [[Second Temple period]], it was customary among Jews to annually offer the ''half-Shekel'' into the Temple treasury, for the upkeep and maintenance of the Temple precincts, as also used in purchasing public animal offerings. This practice not only applied to Jews living in the [[Land of Israel]], but also to Jews living outside the Land of Israel.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[Antiquities of the Jews|Antiquities]]'' (xviii. 9, § 1)</ref> Archaeological excavations conducted at [[Horvat 'Ethri]] in Israel from 1999 to 2001 by [[Boaz Zissu]] and Amir Ganor of the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] (IAA) have yielded important finds, the most-prized of which being a ''half-Shekel'' coin minted in the 2nd century CE, upon which are embossed the words "Half-Shekel" in [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|paleo-Hebrew]] ({{Langx|he|'''חצי השקל'''}}). The same coin possesses a silver content of 6.87 grams.<ref>Boaz Zissu & Amir Ganor, ''Horvat Ethri — A Jewish Village from the Second Temple Period and the Bar Kokhba Revolt in the Judean Foothills'', Journal of Jewish Studies 60 (1), Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, London 2009, pp. 96; 118.</ref> According to the Jewish historian [[Josephus]], the annual monetary tribute of the half-Shekel to the Temple at [[Jerusalem]] was equivalent to two [[Ancient drachma|Athenian drachmæ]], each Athenian or [[Attica|Attic]] drachma weighing a little over 4.3 grams.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[Wars of the Jews]]'' (vii. 6, § 6).</ref>