Abstract
Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman (Nahmanides; 1194-1270) arrived in Eretz Israel in 1267. In a letter he sent to Spain he describes a sheqel-coin that he found and used to determine the weight of the biblical sheqel. Nahmanides states that the Samaritans of Acre were able to read the ancient Hebrew script on the coin. According to his description, the coin can be identified as dating from the period of the Great Revolt (66-70 C.E.). While the Samaritans deciphered one inscription on the coin successfully, they misinterpreted the second, reading Sheqel ha-Sheqalim (literally: the sheqel of sheqels) instead of Sheqel Yisrael (sheqel of Israel). This brief article proposes an explanation for the mistake: the Samaritans misread two letters and then interpreted what they saw on the basis of their spoken Arabic
| Translated title of the contribution | Why Did Nahmanides Misread the Inscription on the Sheqel-Coin? |
|---|---|
| Original language | Hebrew |
| Pages (from-to) | 261-264 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | תרביץ: רבעון למדעי היהדות |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| State | Published - 2012 |
IHP Publications
- ihp
- Coins, Ancient
- Hebrew language, Talmudic
- Nahmanides -- approximately 1195-approximately 1270
- Samaritans
- Silver coins
- מטבעות כסף
- מטבעות עתיקים
- משה בן נחמן -- 1194-1270
- שומרונים
- שפה עברית -- תקופת חז"ל