Cisjordan Corpus

The Cisjordan corpus of Phoenician Iron Age hacksilber (hacksilver), dated between 1200 and 586 BC,[1] is the largest identified collection of pre-coinage silver in the ancient Near East.

The corpus is composed of 34 silver hoards found at 15 sites in ancient southern Phoenicia or modern Israel and Israeli-occupied territories, this area is termed "Cisjordan".

This corpus is thought to be evidence of the Phoenician trade with the Biblical Western Mediterranean Island of Tarshish which supplied King Solomon with silver.

"[2] Adhering to this concept requires accepting the inference that the silver was packaged in pre-weighed bundles, chopped from pre-portioned ingots, and sealed to denote confirmation of quality and quantity.

[2] Eshel et al., argues that the invention of coinage negates by definition the hacksilber currency system, which was based on quality control as well as constant weighing.