Prutah
Encyclopedia
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
(פרוטה) is a word borrowed from the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
and the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, in which it means "a coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
of smaller value". The word was probably derived originally from an Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
word with the same meaning.
The prutah was an ancient copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
Jewish coin worth about one thousandth of a pound. A loaf of bread at that time was worth about 10 prutot (plural of prutah). One prutah was also worth two lepta (singular lepton
Greek lepton
Lepton pl. Lepta is the name of various fractional units of currency used in the Greek-speaking world from antiquity until today...
), which was the smallest denomination minted by the Hasmonean
Hasmonean
The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...
and Herodian Dynasty
Herodian Dynasty
The Herodian Dynasty was a Jewish dynasty of Idumean descent, client Kings of Roman Judaea Province between 37 BCE and 92 CE.- Origin :During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus 134-104 BCE, Israel conquered Edom and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism.The Edomites were integrated...
kings.
Prutot were also minted by the Roman Procurators
Roman Procurator coinage
Roman Procurator coinage were coins issued by the Roman Procurators and Prefects of the province of Judea between 6 - 66 AD. They minted only one denomination and size, the bronze prutah.Not all of the Procurators issued coinage...
of the Province of Judea, and later were minted by the Jews during the First Jewish Revolt
First Jewish-Roman War
The First Jewish–Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province , against the Roman Empire...
(sometimes called 'Masada coins'
Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...
).
See also
- Hashmonean coinageHashmonean coinageHasmonean coinage are the coins minted by the Hasmonean kings. Only bronze coins in various denominations have been found; the smallest being a prutah or a half prutah. Two Roman silver denarii are associated with the Hashmoneans; one has the inscription "BACCIUS JUDAEAS"; with its exact meaning...
- Coins of Alexander JannaeusCoins of Alexander JannaeusAlexander Jannaeus was a Hasmonean ruler, and also the third Hasmonean to mint coins, preceded by Hyrcanus I and Aristobulus. Jannaeus minted the largest and most broadest selection of Hasmonean Coinage.]-Types of Coinage:...
- Herodian coinageHerodian coinageHerodian coinage are coins minted and issued by the Herodian Dynasty, Jews of Idumean descent who ruled the province of Judaea between 37 BC–92 AD...
- Roman Procurator coinageRoman Procurator coinageRoman Procurator coinage were coins issued by the Roman Procurators and Prefects of the province of Judea between 6 - 66 AD. They minted only one denomination and size, the bronze prutah.Not all of the Procurators issued coinage...
- First Jewish Revolt coinageFirst Jewish Revolt coinageFirst Jewish Revolt coinage was issued by the Jews after the Zealots captured Jerusalem and the Jewish temple from the Romans in 66 AD at the beginning of the First Jewish Revolt...
- Bar Kochba Revolt coinageBar Kochba Revolt coinageBar Kochba Revolt coinage were coins issued by the Jews during the Bar Kochba revolt against the Roman Empire of 132-135 AD.During the Revolt, large quantities of coins were issued in silver and copper with rebellious inscriptions, all being overstruck over foreign coins, when a file was used to...
- List of historical currencies
- ma'ahGerahA gerah Hebrew "גרה" is an ancient Hebrew unit of weight and currency. One gerah is one-twentieth of a shekel. A shekel being 180 barleycorns or 60 carob divided by 20 = 3 carob. This is 0.568 grams....
- ZuzZuz (coin)A Zuz was an ancient Hebrew silver coin struck during the Bar Kochba revolt. They were overstruck on Roman Imperial denarii or Roman provincial drachmas of Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian...
- ShekelShekelShekel , is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. The first usage is from Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley...
- Israeli prutaIsraeli prutaThe Pruta was a denomination of currency in Israel prior to 1960.The pruta was introduced shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, as the 1000th part of the Israeli pound...
External links
- The Prutah on the 'Biblical Mites' website
- http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prutahThe Prutah on WiktionaryWiktionaryWiktionary is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158 languages...
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