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The '''mĕnē''' ([[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]: {{lang|he|מְנֵא}}; {{Lang-he|מָנֶה}}),<ref>In the Hebrew tradition, a ''meh-ney'' had always the weight of 100 silver [[denarii]].</ref> also '''mina''', is an ancient [[Mesopotamian]] unit of weight for gold or silver and one of the earliest written words for money. The mĕnē, like the shekel, was also a unit of [[currency]]. Before it was used as currency, a mene was a unit of measurement, equal to 567 grams. Terms in other Mesopotamian languages include the Hebrew ''māneh'', Aramaic ''mĕnē'', Syriac ''manyā'', Ugaritic ''mn'', and Akkadian ''manū''. The measurement was adopted by the [[Ancient Greeks]] as the [[Mina (unit)|mina]].
From earliest [[History of Sumer|Sumerian]] times, a mĕnē was a unit of weight. At first, talents and shekels had not yet been introduced. By the time of [[Ur-Nammu]], the mĕnē had a value of 1/60 [[Talent (weight)|talents]] as well as 60 [[shekel]]s. or 571 grams of silver (18.358 troy ounces).<ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=726&letter=M#2473] Jewish Encyclopedia</ref>
At [[Ugarit]], a mĕnē was equivalent to fifty shekels.<ref>Tenney, Merril ed., ''The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible'', vol. 5, "Weights and Measures," Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976.</ref> The prophet [[Ezekiel]] refers to a mĕnē ('maneh' in the King James Version) as sixty shekels, in the [[Book of Ezekiel]].<ref>Ezekiel 45:12</ref> [[Jesus of Nazareth]] tells the "parable of the mĕnē" in [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 19:11-27.
From the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]]ian period, 2 mĕnē was equal to 1 ''sila'' of water (cf. [[water clock|clepsydra]], water clock).
In the [[Code of Hammurabi]] which is arguably the first example of written law, mene is one of the most used terms denoting the weight of gold to be paid for crimes or to resolve civil conflicts.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/ham/ham07.htm] Sacred Texts</ref>
==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Ancient Near East]]
[[Category:Units of mass]]
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