After a busy day of commerce, a Phoenician merchant from what is now Lebanon counts the silver shekels he’s earned as his profits. Originally conceived as a unit of weight akin to modern ounces or grams, the shekel evolved into a form of currency used in a variety of ancient Middle Eastern civilizations, including the biblical Hebrews as well as the Phoenicians. It has even lent its name to the modern Israeli unit of currency, the new shekel.