Iron Age Hoards of Precious Metals in Palestine – an 'Underground Economy'?

Abstract

More than 20 hoards of precious metals (silver/gold) have been found in Iron Age contexts in Palestine. Most of them contain damaged or cut pieces of jewelry and shapeless pieces of silver ('Hacksilber'), often buried in small pottery vessels beneath floors. We do not know the identity of the owners of these hoards, and explanations for their concealment are, unfortunately, speculative. The tendency to relate every hoard of this type with metalsmiths can no longer be justified, but it is clear that such hoards indicate amalgamation of wealth. Recent studies based on late Iron Age hoards from Ekron suggest that such hoards indicate an economic development towards a 'monetary' economy during the seventh century BC, under Assyrian influence. However, the hoards are too few and far between, and similar 'Hacksilber' hoards appear in Palestine already in the Middle Bronze II period. This suggests that a metal-weight economy based on weight of silver is not a new feature of the late Iron Age period. The invention of coins marked the transfer to a monetary economy, and in Palestine at least, this new economic stage occurred gradually and after the Iron Age period.