Zuz (Jewish coin)


A Zuz was an ancient Jewish silver coin struck during the Bar Kokhba revolt as well as a Jewish name for the various types of non-Jewish small silver coinage, used before and after the period of the revolt. The name was used from the Greek era of drachmas, through the Roman era of Denarius, and then as the quarter denomination of Bar Kokhba Revolt coinage. The Jewish insurrectionists' zuzim were overstruck on Imperial denarii or provincial drachmas of the emperors Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan, and Hadrian. Four zuzim, denarii or drachmas make a shekel, a sela or a tetradrachm.

Etymology

Several different etymologies have been suggested for the word "zuz":
  • A corruption of the Greek Zeus, who was the deity portrayed on the reverse of many Seleucid tetradrachms during the latest stages of the Seleucid Empire.
  • In Hebrew, the word "zuz" means "move", or "to move", so it was called "zuzim" to show that it was constantly moving around, usually referring to the fact that Jews must give charity, or referring to the nature of money that it moves from one person to another, alternating who is wealthy.
  • Related to a root meaning "shining" or "glittering".
  • According to Stephen Kaufman, zūzu is of Akkadian origin. American Heritage Dictionary also states: "from Akkadian zūze, half, division, unit of weight, from zâzu, to divide".

Usage

In the Talmud, the zuz and the dinar are used interchangeably, the difference being that the zuz originally referred to the Greek Drachma while the dinar referred to the later Roman Denarius.
The zuz is mentioned in the Haggadah in the Passover song "Chad gadya, chad gadya" ; in which the lyric of repeats at the end of every stanza. It may be significant that two zuzim equal the half-shekel tax required of every adult male Israelite in Exodus 30:13.