Herodes the Great, King

Jerusalem

Lead

Cast

Square

6.50 cm

6.45 cm

- cm

Mass (g)	Mass (grain)	Date of measurement	Reference	fragmented	cleaned	reference weight
290.00	-	-	Dothan 1971	No	No	Yes

Symbol	Technique	Direction	Position	Number	Synecdoche
Anchor
Wreath

Dothan 1971: Lead weight. 290 gm. 6.5 × 6.45 cm. Almost square, with a small protuberance at the top. On the back is a raised design of a circle and anchor, with leaves inside and outside the circle. There is an illegible inscription of five lines on the face.
Lifshitz 1973–74: L’inscription sur l’autre poids n’a pas été lue par [Dothan 1971]. Plomb, surface carrée, 65 mm × 64,5 mm; poids, 290 g. Au revers un[e] ancre dans un cercle formé de feuilles. Au droit une inscription en cinq lignes, qui n’a pas été déchiffrée par l’éditeur. Elle est assurément très abîmée. Voici le texte de l’inscription: Ἀγοραν̣ο̣[μ]ο[ῦ]|ντ[ος] Ἡρ̣ώ̣|δου ἔ[τ]ου̣ς̣ β´ Οὐησπαση|αν(οῦ) Καίσ(αρος). L. 4: La lecture du nom de l’empereur est certaine malgré la graphie η pour ε. L. 5: ο pour la diphtongue ου; une ligature certainement rare à cette époque. Le poids est daté par l’année du règne de Vespasien: 69–70. Nous ne pouvons savoir si le poids provient d’Azotos ou d’une autre ville, plus ou moins proche.
Kushnir-Stein 1995: The inscription […] meant “in the time of King Herod, Pious and Friend of Caesar”. Two client Roman rulers named ΗΡΩΔΗΣ had the title of king — Herod the Great (37–4 B.C.) and his grandson, Herod of Chalcis (41–48 A.D.). The provenance of the weight would imply that it belongs to the reign of the former. Ashdod was under the dominion of Herod the Great from c. 30 B.C. until the king’s death. Since the title ΦΙΛΟΚΑΙΣΑΡ cannot be earlier than 30 B.C., the weight may be assigned to the period between this date and 4 B.C. There is no sure way of telling whether it was manufactured in Ashdod itself.
CIIP III: A square lead weight with a handle at its top. One side has raised borders and a square inner frame in relief, within which there is an inscription in five lines. The inscription is very worn and further damaged in several places by blows to the surface; lunate sigma. The reverse side is decorated with an anchor in a wreath. Meas.: h 6.45, w 6.5 cm; wt 290 g. Autopsy: 1993.

No

Language	Technique	Legend type
		Authority

Kushnir-Stein 1995: Βα̣σ̣ιλε[ύ]ο̣|ντ[ο]ς̣ Ἡρ̣ῴ̣|δου Εὐ̣σ̣ε̣|βοῦς καὶ Φ̣|ιλοκαίσ(αρος)
Lifshitz 1973–74: Ἀγοραν̣ο̣[μ]ο[ῦ]|ντ[ος] Ἡρ̣ώ̣|δου ἔ[τ]ου̣ς̣ | β´ Οὐησπαση|αν(οῦ) Καίσ(αρος).

GREEK , ROMAN

FROM -30 TO -4

Kushnir-Stein 1995: between ca. 30 and 4 BCE (reign of Herodes the Great).

Name	Date of acquisition	Inventory number
Israel Antiquities Authority (Jerusalem)	None	63/2231
Ashdod Art Museum	None	IAA 1963-2231

Reference	Page/Column	Reference (number)	Plate / Figure	Comment
Dothan 1971a	67–68, 72–73	None	None	None
Dothan 1971b	71	None	fig. 30/6; pl. XXV/7	None
Lifshitz 1973–74	34	2	None	None
BÉ 1976	422	43	None	None
SEG 26	387	1665	None	None
Meimaris 1992	363–364	49	None	None
BÉ 1995	649	641	None	None
Kushnir-Stein 1995a	81–84	None	pl. Xb–c	None
SEG 45	565	1933	None	None
BÉ 1996	566	107	None	None
CIIP III	210–211	2300	fig. 2300/1–3	None

CIIP III: The weight was first published in 1971 in the archaeological report on the excavations in Ashdod by M. Dothan. The editors of the report considered its inscription illegible because of its worn condition (Dothan 68); however, they provided a photograph and a drawing of the letters they could discern (Dothan, pl. XXV,7 and fig. 30,6). Shortly afterwards, B. Lifshitz (ed. pr.) suggested a decipherment of the entire text as: Ἀγοραν̣ο̣[μ]ο[ῦ]|ντ[ος] Ἡρ̣ώ̣|δου ἔ[τ]ου̣ς̣ | β´ Οὐησπαση|αν(οῦ) Καίσ(αρος). This reading has been reproduced in a number of subsequent publications (SEG 26, 1665; BE 1976, 43). However, the text suggested by Lifshitz does not match with either the photograph or the drawing provided by the excavation report. Examination of the weight revealed that the drawing of the report shows most of the inscription faithfully, but is still in need of several important corrections of detail. A corrected drawing is given here. The reading of it as Βα̣σ̣ιλε[ύ]ο̣|ντ[ο]ς̣ Ἡρ̣ώ̣|δου Εὐ̣σ̣ε̣|βοῦς καὶ Φ̣|ιλοκαίσ(αρος) appears to be the only one possible. Two Roman client rulers named Ἡρώδης had the title of king —Herod the Great (37–4 BCE) and his grandson, Herod of Chalcis (41–48 CE). The provenance of the weight implies that the king mentioned on it is Herod the Great. The titles Εὐσεβής and Φιλόκαισαρ were borne by a number of Eastern client kings, among them some descendents of Herod (OGIS 419; SEG 7, 216; ILS 8957); the possession of them by Herod the Great is not, however, firmly attested. The inscription on a limestone weight from Jerusalem (CIIP I l, 666) indicates Herod's first title by the abbreviation EY, which was completed by its first publisher as Εὐ(εργέτου). The present weight, which gives Herod’s first title in full, argues for completing the title on its stone counterpart as Εὐ(σεβοῦς). Ashdod was under the rule of Herod the Great from ea. 30 BCE until the king's death in 4 BCE. Since the title Φιλόκαισαρ cannot be earlier than 30 BCE, the weight is to be assigned to the period between 30 and 4 BCE. There is no sure way of telling whether it was manufactured in Ashdod itself.