Title: The weight of the evidence and the evidence of the weights
Description: Ancient commercial transactions were often based on the payment of a quantity of silver. This silver was measured out in a two-pan balance to an agreed upon mass. The balance compared the mass of the silver with the mass of known weights in the other pan. Many such balance weights have come to light in archaeological excavation. While other scholars have conducted metrological analyses of specific groups of balance weights, there has not yet been an attempt to collect weights from sites on or near the coast of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age, specifically Philistia. This study looks at the various units of mass in use during the Iron Age by examining the actual balance weights. Several statistical methods are employed to evaluate and compare the masses of these weights to find their unit values. Many of these weights align with known weight systems such as that of the Mesopotamian siglu, the Egyptian gdt/Diban, or the Judahite sheqel ; many of the weights belong to yet other systems. The dissertation begins with a survey of ancient weighing and the weight systems known in the ancient Near East and Aegean during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Following is a catalog of the Iron Age weights from the coastal plain of the Southern Levant, including many unpublished examples from Ashkelon and Tell es[dotbelow]-S[dotbelow]afî. The report of statistical findings follows demonstrating which units of mass are present and the relative frequency of each. This information will be arranged by site, proximity to the coast, and geo-political region. Lastly, implications for the understanding of the inter- and intra-regional economics and politics are presented.