Kesitah


The kesitah is an ancient Biblical form of monetary measurement that the value or weight of is no longer known. The word is translated from Hebrew meaning, "part, measure, piece of money."

Biblical account

The word appears in Genesis and Joshua where Jacob paid 100 kesitahs for land near Shechem. The earliest Greek translation translated kesitah as "lamb". After God restored his fortunes, Job received a kesitah from each of his friends. Subsequently, the kesitah was probably a piece of money of a particular weight, cast in the form of a lamb.

Archeology

Monuments in Egypt show that such weights were used as a form of currency.