One of the most important aspects of biblical archeology is numismatics, which perfectly illustrates evangelical events. It was thanks to the collections of ancient coins that it became known what the 30 pieces of silver looked like, which Judas received for betraying Christ.
The New Testament, created at the beginning of our era, contains stories about the earthly journey of Jesus Christ and about the 12 apostles, followers of the Son of God. One of them, Judas Iscariot, could not stand the temptation and committed the sin - betrayed his Teacher. Judas was the only Jew among the apostles, who were all Galileans, and he lived up to the ancient saying: "The Galilean loves glory, and the Jew loves money." In the community of Christ's disciples, he was in charge of their finances.
Traitor's Fee
Once, during a common meal, Judas was deeply outraged by the fact that a certain woman poured a jug of peace, the most valuable and expensive aromatic substance on Jesus' head, but He did not stop her. The angry Judas “went to the chief priests and said, What will you give me, and I will deliver Him to you? They offered him thirty pieces of silver; and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to betray Him”(Matt. 26: 14-16).
But soon the anger passed, Judas repented and “returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying: I have sinned by giving up innocent blood. But they said to him: what do we care about? see for yourself”(Matt. 27: 3-4). The servants of the Jerusalem temple, taking the pieces of silver, consulted and decided that it was impermissible to return them to the treasury, because they were "the price of blood." With these coins they bought "the potter's land for the burial of strangers." And Judas, as it is said, "went out, went and hanged himself."
During the time of Jesus Christ in Israel, Roman denarii (denarii) and Greek coins - drachmas and staters (also called tetradrachmas) were in circulation. But what kind of silver coins entered the history of mankind as a fee received by Judas? The Gospel texts do not provide an answer. However, Flavius Josephus reports that the Jews were required to pay the so-called temple tax. And they paid this tax in shekels - coins minted in the Phoenician city of Tire. It is easy to assume that Judas was paid with the same money.
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Money changers in the temple
Tire shekels, or Tire Greek staters, have survived to this day; they were minted for several hundred years and surpassed any other large silver coins in their popularity in Judea. Here's what is interesting: the obverse of these coins depicts the Phoenician pagan idol Melqart, and the reverse depicts an eagle and an inscription in Greek "Sacred and inviolable Tire."
The Tyrian shekels were the most reliable currency in the Roman Empire. Of all the silver coins in circulation, they had the greatest weight - 14 grams, in contrast, for example, to Roman denarii, which weighed only 3.5 grams. In addition, they had the highest content of the precious metal - 94%. It is obvious that the undoubted merits of these coins forced even the Jews to come to terms with the image of a pagan idol on them. But the double-dealing of priests and the appearance in the temple of money changers, that is, those who were engaged in the exchange of any currency for Tyrian shekels, caused the righteous anger of Jesus Christ. The Lord knocked over the tables of money speculators and drove them out of God's house.
What was the purchasing power of the Tyrian staters? Drachma was equal to Roman denarius. Denarius, in turn, was the standard daily wage of a skilled agricultural laborer or Roman legionary. Srebrenik, apparently, was a tetradrachm, and these are four drachmas, equal to four denarii. Therefore, 30 pieces of silver are equal to 120 denarii, or four months' wages for a seven-day work week. With this money, as we already know, it was possible to buy a plot of land near Jerusalem.
Srebreniki, or, as scientists have found out, Tyrian shekels, forever entered the history of mankind as a symbol of the price of betrayal.
Mikhail EFIMOV