Gold and electrum rings from the Nahal Qanah Cave (Israël) late fifth millennium BC. Money?pic.twitter.com/ch9YbUkW8V
-
Most "ring money" (first bronze later silver) was more in the form of coils, of which segments could be easily separated.
Yes, the above rings would likely have been used by tally, like shell beads. Whether or not they come in standard weights would be a good clue.
-
-
Gold in this period (before coinage 7th century BC) often came in "similar" forms but, like ingots today, were weighed for actual content. They were not "standardized" to the extent that they could trade without weighing.
-
Agreed. Same with silver. Even after coinage was invented they sticked with “weighing on payment” for a few centuries in Mesopotamia.
-
Oops. Let me add that weighing was perhaps not customary before balances were invented! So when was that? I know of evidence in the 4th millennium, but not from before.pic.twitter.com/8GeJsl45O3
-
The Egyptian rings look a bit the same as the Israeli ones: not elegant.
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.