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100% found this document useful (9 votes)
49 views66 pages

Full Nester's Microbiology A Human Perspective 8th Edition Anderson Test Bank All Chapters

Human

Uploaded by

ktksbocero67
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

Chapter 07
The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The phrase "one gene-one enzyme" is associated with the work of


A. Lederberg.
B. Watson and Crick.
C. Beadle and Tatum.
D. Mendel.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: History of Microbiology

2. The two strands of DNA are bonded to one another by


A. covalent bonds.
B. oxygen bonds.
C. hydrogen bonds.
D. carbon bonds.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Chemistry

7-1
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

3. Which pairing is incorrect?


A. A:T
B. G:C
C. A:U
D. A:G

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 3. Apply
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

4. What structure is indicated by: 10A, 15T, 3G, 7C?


A.

Double-stranded RNA

B.
Double-stranded DNA

C.
Single-stranded RNA

D.
Single-stranded DNA

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 3. Apply
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

7-2
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

5. Without changing the sequence or the orientation of the sequence(s), which is/are
complementary to the sequence 5' AGGCUAAC 3'?
A. 5' TCCGATTG 3'
B. 3' TCCGATTC 5'
C. 5' CTTAGCCT 3'
D. 3' TAAGCTTA 5'
E. 3' TCCGATTC 5' AND 5' CTTAGCCT 3'

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 3. Apply
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

6. GCCCAAAG is a molecule of
A. RNA.
B. DNA.
C. protein.
D. cannot tell as written.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

7. Which may be or is an RNA molecule?


A. AGCCTAC
B. GGGCCCA
C. GCCCUUA
D. AGCCTAC AND GGGCCCA
E. GGGCCCA AND GCCCUUA

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

7-3
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

8. RNA is characterized by which one of the following features?


A.

Deoxyribose

B.
Thymine

C.
Ribose

D.
Double-stranded

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

7-4
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

9. DNA is characterized by which of the following feature(s)?


A.

Ribose

B.
Single-stranded

C.
Deoxyribose

D.
Thymine

E.
Deoxyribose AND thymine

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

7-5
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

10. Which is not true of RNA?


A. It is usually single-stranded.
B. It functions in the cytoplasm.
C.

It contains both uracil and thymine.

D. It contains ribose.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

11. The 3' end of DNA


A. refers to the end that has a hydroxyl group attached to the number 3 carbon of deoxyribose.
B. attaches to the 5' phosphate group of the incoming nucleotide.
C. always has thymine attached to it.
D. usually has guanine attached to it.
E. refers to the end that has a hydroxyl group attached to the number 3 carbon of deoxyribose
AND attaches to the 5' phosphate group of the incoming nucleotide.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

7-6
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

12. Which of the following is/are true of DNA replication?


A. It starts at the origin of replication.
B. Nucleotides are added to the 3' end.
C. It requires an RNA primer to get started.
D. It utilizes polymerases.
E. All of the choices are true.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.03
Section: 07.02
Topic: Genetics

13. DNA replication is


A. conservative.
B. interspersive.
C. semiconservative.
D. chain reference.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.03
Section: 07.02
Topic: Genetics

14. Which is true about DNA replication?


A. It is semiconservative.
B. It starts at an origin of replication.
C. It is bi-directional.
D. It requires RNA primers.
E. All of the choices are correct.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.03
Section: 07.02
Topic: Genetics

7-7
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

15. The term antiparallel


A. refers to the structure of single-stranded RNA.
B. is synonymous with semiconservative.
C. refers to the opposite orientation of the two strands in DNA.
D. refers to a type of prokaryotic replication.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.03
Section: 07.02
Topic: Genetics

16. The lagging strand


A.

is a type of RNA.

B. is found during RNA replication.


C. is necessary due to the properties of the enzymes and the antiparallel nature of DNA.
D. is always the bottom strand.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.03
Section: 07.02
Topic: Genetics

7-8
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

17. Which is true about the RNA transcript?


A. It is formed using the DNA minus strand as a template.
B. It has the same 5'-3' orientation as the DNA positive strand.
C. It is made in short fragments that are then stitched together.
D. The template starts at the promoter region.
E.

It is formed using the DNA minus strand as a template, it has the same 5'-3' orientation as the DNA positive strand, AND the
template starts at the promoter region.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

18. Which is true about prokaryotic (bacterial) RNA polymerase?


A. It is used during transcription.
B. It does not require a primer.
C. It has a detachable subunit, sigma factor, which recognizes the promoter.
D. It reads the template in the 3'-5' direction.
E. All of the choices are true.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.06
Section: 07.04
Topic: Genetics

7-9
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

19. The specific sequence of nucleotides in the DNA to which the RNA polymerase binds is
the
A. regulatory region.
B. promoter region.
C. sigma region.
D. core region.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

20. The transcription terminator


A. results in a hairpin loop structure in RNA.
B. results in the polymerase falling off the DNA template.
C. stops DNA polymerase.
D. adds a terminator nucleotide to the RNA.
E. results in a hairpin loop structure in RNA AND results in the polymerase falling off the
DNA template.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

21. How many nucleotides are in a codon?


A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-10
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

22. There are _____ codons to code for the 20 possible amino acids.
A. 20
B. 30
C. 64
D. 61

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

23. The genetic code has more than one codon for some amino acids. This is an example of
A. evolution.
B. stringency.
C.

redundancy.

D. translation.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

24. Which molecule carries an anticodon?


A. DNA
B. mRNA
C. rRNA
D. tRNA

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-11
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

25. AUG
A. is only used as the start codon.
B. codes for methionine.
C. determines the reading frame.
D. is one of the stop codons.
E. codes for methionine AND determines the reading frame.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

26. The amino acid that is placed first during translation in bacteria, mitochondria, and
chloroplasts is
A. glycine.
B. methionine.
C. N-formyl-methionine.
D. serine.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

7-12
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

27. The placement of the amino acid during translation is determined by the
A.

DNase, which transcribes both molecules.

B. complementarity of the codon-anticodon.


C. sequence of nucleotides at the 5' end of the tRNA.
D. secondary structure of the newly forming protein.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

28. What is the number of tRNA molecules that may be associated with translation?
A.

16

B.
20

C. 64
D.
Fewer than 64

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-13
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

29. The P-site


A. is found on the polymerase enzyme.
B. is an allosteric site.
C. is a promoter site.
D. is the peptidyl site on the ribosome.
E. is an allosteric site AND is a promoter site.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

30. The E-site


A. is found on the RNA polymerase enzyme.
B. is responsible for the release of the tRNA.
C. is found on the 35S polysome.
D.

is the aminoacyl site.

E.
is responsible for the release of the tRNA AND is the aminoacyl site.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-14
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

31. A stop codon


A. codes for the stop amino acid s-methyl-methionine.
B. forms a hairpin loop forcing the ribosome to fall off.
C. codes for no amino acid.
D. enhances the binding of the e-polymerase.
E. codes for the stop amino acid s-methyl-methionine AND forms a hairpin loop forcing the
ribosome to fall off.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

32. Post-translational modification may include


A. formation of exons and introns.
B. folding of the protein, often with the aid of chaperones.
C. removal of the signal sequence.
D. addition of glycine tags.
E.

folding of the protein, often with the aid of chaperones, AND removal of the signal sequence.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-15
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

33. The ribosomes


A. move along the tRNA in a 3'-5' direction.
B. move along the mRNA in a 5'-3' direction.
C. move along the DNA in a 5'-3' direction.
D.

provide a platform that brings the amino acids into a favorable position for joining.

E.
move along the mRNA in a 5'-3' direction AND provide a platform that brings the amino acids into a favorable position for
joining.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

34. In DNA sequence analysis


A. the + strand of DNA is used.
B. the start codon is ATG.
C. ORFs are searched for.
D. codon usage is a helpful indicator for protein coding areas.
E. All of the choices are correct.

Bloom's Level: 2. Understand


Learning Outcome: 07.12
Section: 07.08
Topic: Genetics

7-16
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

35. Some segments of the precursor mRNA in eukaryotes are non-coding and are called
A. exons.
B. introns.
C. integrans.
D. uselessans.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.06
Section: 07.04
Topic: Genetics

36. Bacteria use ______ attached TO the polymerase to direct RNA polymerase to promoters;
eukaryotic cells use ______ that attach directly to the DNA first instead.
A. sigma factors; transcription factors
B. transcription factors; sigma factors
C. ribosomes; sigma factors
D. tRNA; rRNA

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.06
Section: 07.04
Topic: Genetics

37. Ribozymes
A. are complexes of ribosomes and RNA.
B. are self-catalytic RNA.
C. suggest that nucleic acids evolved before proteins.
D. are enzymes that degrade RNA and therefore have potential for clinical applications.
E. are self-catalytic RNA AND suggest that nucleic acids evolved before proteins.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-17
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

38. The scientists responsible for the idea that RNA can act as a catalyst were
A. Watson and Crick.
B. Beadle and Tatum.
C. Altman and Cech.
D. Lederberg and Stanley.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: History of Microbiology

39. Signal transduction


A. is the relay of information about conditions outside a cell to inside the cell.
B. often relies on a two component system.
C. may involve phosphorylation of various molecules.
D. is used by certain pathogens to sense low magnesium conditions.
E. All of the choices are correct.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.07
Section: 07.05
Topic: Genetics

40. Quorum sensing


A. is used by bacteria to sense the density of cells.
B. involves the production and monitoring of the amount of homoserine lactone present.
C. is used by bacteria to limit the density of bacteria.
D. is used by eukaryotes to sense the presence of bacteria.
E. is used by bacteria to sense the density of cells AND involves the production and
monitoring of the amount of homoserine lactone present.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.07
Section: 07.05
Topic: Genetics

7-18
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

41. Gene regulation may entail


A. turning on genes only when needed.
B. turning off genes when not needed.
C. turning on or off entire groups of genes.
D. All of the choices are correct.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

42. The regulatory protein


A. binds to the promoter region of DNA.
B. may inhibit or enhance transcription.
C. may control translation of the operon.
D. affects the activity of the DNA polymerase.
E. binds to the promoter region of DNA AND affects the activity of the DNA polymerase.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Bloom's Level: 4. Analyze
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

7-19
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

43. Operon(s) in bacteria


A.

refers to a group of genes that are controlled in a coordinate fashion.

B. involve polycistronic mRNA.


C. involve monocistronic mRNA.
D. are also known as Wagnerons.
E.
refers to a group of genes that are controlled in a coordinate fashion AND involve polycistronic mRNA.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

44. The set of genes in bacteria that are linked together and transcribed as a single unit is
referred to as a(n)
A. operon.
B. regulon.
C. operator.
D. repressor.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

7-20
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

45. The DNA site to which the repressor protein binds is the
A. operon.
B. regulon.
C. operator.
D. repressor.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

46. The molecules that bind to a repressor and cause it to no longer bind to the operator are
called
A. activators.
B. repressors.
C. introns.
D. inducers.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

47. Repressors
A. are involved in negative control.
B. are involved in positive control.
C. always bind to the promoter.
D. bind or do not bind to the operator depending on their shape (conformation).
E. are involved in negative control AND bind or do not bind to the operator depending on
their shape (conformation).

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

7-21
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

48. Activators
A. are involved in negative control.
B. are involved in positive control.
C. always bind to the promoter.
D. are allosteric proteins.
E. are involved in positive control AND are allosteric proteins.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

49. Negative control means a regulator molecule is


A. bound and transcription starts.
B. removed and transcription is inhibited.
C. bound and transcription is inhibited.
D. removed and transcription starts.
E. bound and transcription is inhibited AND removed and transcription starts.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

7-22
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

50. Glucose
A. is preferentially used over lactose in E. coli as a result of catabolite repression.
B. levels are directly sensed via catabolite repression.
C. levels are the inverse of cAMP levels.
D. levels directly affect the production of lactose dehydrogenase.
E.

is preferentially used over lactose in E. coli as a result of catabolite repression AND glucose levels are the inverse of cAMP
levels.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.10
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

51. The lac operon


A. is an example of negative control.
B. is affected by catabolite repression.
C. produces lactose.
D. is an example of a regulon.
E. is an example of negative control AND is affected by catabolite repression.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.10
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

7-23
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

52. CAP
A. is involved in positive control.
B. stands for cyclic amp protein.
C. works in conjunction with cAMP.
D. is involved in negative control.
E. is involved in positive control AND works in conjunction with cAMP.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.10
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

53. RNAi
A. is the form of mRNA that initiates translation.
B.

uses short pieces of single-stranded RNA to direct the degradation of specific RNA transcripts.

C. is a mechanism of genetic regulation found in eukaryotes.


D. is any chemical that inhibits transcription.
E.
uses short pieces of single-stranded RNA to direct the degradation of specific RNA transcripts AND is a mechanism of
genetic regulation found in eukaryotes.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.11
Section: 07.07
Topic: Genetics

True / False Questions

7-24
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

54.

Adenine binds to thymine via three hydrogen bonds.

FALSE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

55. One end of a strand of DNA is different from the other end.
TRUE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.01
Section: 07.01
Topic: Genetics

56. DNA replication is usually unidirectional.


FALSE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.03
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Section: 07.02
Topic: Genetics

7-25
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

57. The minus strand of DNA serves as the template for RNA production.
TRUE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

58. Antisense RNA is the complement of the plus strand and may be useful in inhibiting
translation.
TRUE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.11
Section: 07.07
Topic: Genetics

59.

The genetic code is nearly universal.

TRUE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-26
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

60.

A codon consists of two nucleotides.

FALSE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

61. The anticodon determines which amino acid is linked to its tRNA.
TRUE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

62. Ribozymes are non-protein molecules with catalytic activity.


TRUE

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 2. Understand
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

Multiple Choice Questions

7-27
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

63. A drug that inhibits the activity of bacterial DNA gyrase ______ be a good antibiotic
because _______.
A. would; it would inhibit all DNA synthesis
B. would NOT; it would inhibit all DNA synthesis, even our own cell's DNA synthesis
C. would; it would selectively inhibit bacterial DNA synthesis due to differences between
bacterial/human gyrase
D. would NOT; the DNA replication machinery could still function, even with impaired DNA
gyrase enzyme

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
Bloom's Level: 5. Evaluate
Learning Outcome: 07.03
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Section: 07.02
Topic: Genetics

64. Why is it a good idea for a bacterial cell to be able to utilize glucose FIRST as an energy
source (until it's used up), THEN switch to lactose?
A. Glucose is an easier compound to break down and obtain energy from than lactose.
B. Lactose cannot be used by bacterial cells as an energy source.
C. It's about conservation of energy-why expend the energy to make the extra enzymes for
breaking down lactose when glucose is right there and doesn't need the extra enzymes for
breakdown.
D. Glucose provides 10x as much energy when broken down as lactose.
E.

Glucose is no easier compound to break down and obtain energy from than lactose AND It's about conservation of energy-
why expend the energy to make the extra enzymes for breaking down lactose when glucose is right there and doesn't need the
extra enzymes for breakdown.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
Bloom's Level: 5. Evaluate
Learning Outcome: 07.04
Learning Outcome: 07.10
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

7-28
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

65. Does the presence of introns/exons in eukaryotic cells provide more potential diversity in
gene products (proteins) than is possible in prokaryotic cells?
A. It doesn't-this is a trick question. There's the same potential for gene products (proteins) in
a bacterium with 1,000 genes as there is in a eukaryotic cell with 1,000 genes.
B. It does-each exon and each intron could be used individually and discretely to make agene
product (protein). Since bacteria lack these, they will have less ability to create different
proteins.
C. It does-exons/introns can be spliced together in different ways post-transcription to yield
different mRNAs (and therefore, different proteins). Bacteria lack this system, so the gene
you transcribe is translated into the only protein you'll end up getting.
D. It does-exons/introns can be spliced together in different ways at the DNA levelto
eventually yield different mRNAs (and therefore, different proteins). Bacteria lack this
system, so the gene you transcribe is translated into the only protein you'll end up getting.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 3. Apply
Learning Outcome: 07.06
Section: 07.04
Topic: Genetics

66. A graduate student is trying to isolate bacterial mRNA for an enzyme that will degrade
trinitrotoluene (TNT). She's frustrated to find that the enzyme isn't produced when the
bacterium in question is grown on nutrient agar. What might she do to solve the problem and
obtain the mRNA?
A. Add nitrogen and toluene to the agar to drive up synthesis of TNT.
B. Add TNT to the agar-this will drive synthesis of the enzyme to degrade it, leading to
production of the mRNA the student is looking for.
C. Remove glucose from the agar-this will cause the bacteria to shift to other compounds for
their energy purposes.
D. Remove all sugars from the agar-this will cause the bacteria to shift to other compounds
for their energy purposes.
E. Add TNT to the agar-this will drive synthesis of the enzyme to degrade it, leading to
production of the mRNA the student is looking for AND remove all sugars from the agar-this
will cause the bacteria to shift to other compounds for their energy purposes.

ASM Objective: 04.03 The regulation of gene expression is influenced by external and internal molecular cues and/or signals.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 5. Evaluate
Learning Outcome: 07.09
Section: 07.06
Topic: Genetics

7-29
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

67. Cells are often ground up with abrasive to get to their internal enzymes/molecules,
followed by removal of the abrasives. Here are two situations and two outcomes. What is the
correct interpretation of the results? In situation #1, radioactive amino acids are mixed with
ground-up cell material. Radioactive proteins are produced. In situation #2, radioactive amino
acids AND the enzyme RNAse (an enzyme that degrades RNA) are mixed with ground-up
cell material. No radioactive proteins are produced.
A. The mRNA from the cell can be used to make proteins with the radioactive amino acids in
the first situation. In the second situation, the mRNA is destroyed by the RNAse before it can
be translated into protein containing the radioactive amino acids.
B. The DNA from the cell can be translated into protein using the radioactive amino acids in
the first situation. The RNAse in the second situation degrades the ribosomal RNA (rRNA),
preventing ribosomes from forming and making proteins with the radioactive amino acids.
C. The radioactivity in the amino acids corrupts the tRNA molecules, leading to no protein
production in the second scenario.
D. The results cannot be interpreted-there isn't enough information given in the question.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 5. Evaluate
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-30
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 07 - The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein

68.

Cells are often ground up with abrasive to get to their internal enzymes/molecules, followed by removal of the abrasives.
Here are three situations and three outcomes. What is the correct interpretation of the results? In situation #1, radioactive
amino acids are added to cell material, and radioactive proteins are produced. In situation #2, radioactive amino acids, cell
material, and the enzyme DNAse (degrades DNA) are added together. Radioactive proteins are still produced. In situation #3,
the ground-up cell material is allowed to sit for 24 hours before radioactive amino acids and DNAse are added to it. No
radioactive protein is produced. What is the most likely interpretation?

A.
RNA polymerase has no activity after 24 hours, so no mRNA is transcribed and translated into radioactive proteinsin the last
scenario.

B. The radioactivity in the amino acids is altering/degrading the tRNA molecules, leading to
no protein production in the last scenario.
C.
Natural RNAses present in the ground-up material will degrade any existing mRNAs in that 24-hour interval. Added DNAses
breakdown DNA so that new RNAs are not synthesized.This will lead to a loss of capability to translate protein in the last
scenario.

D. The results are not interpretable from the information given.

ASM Objective: 04.02 Although the central dogma is universal in all cells, the processes of replication, transcription, and translation differ
in Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
ASM Topic: Module 04 Information Flow
Bloom's Level: 5. Evaluate
Learning Outcome: 07.05
Section: 07.03
Topic: Genetics

7-31
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
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From this it is easy to construct the Babylonian silver system,
which was employed in Lydia and in the Persian empire.

1 shekel = 169 grs.


50 shekels = 1 mina = 7450,
60 minae = 1 talent 447000.

From the double gold shekel was formed another silver standard
known as the Phoenician.
Gold being to silver as 13:1,

1 double shekel of 260 grs. = 3380 grs. silver,


3380 grs. silver = 15 shekels of 225·3 grs.

As this silver standard is found in the same area as the double


gold shekel, I have thought it best to follow the usual derivation, but
at the same time it is worth pointing out that it may have been
gained directly from the light shekel.
The light shekel (which in the form of coined money appears
either as the gold of Croesus, or the Daric), in the case of the
Babylonian system was made equal to ten silver didrachms, or 20
drachms known under the name of Sigli; it likewise is equal in value
to 15 Phoenician didrachms of 112·6 grs. Thus, whilst in one region
they obtained a silver unit, ten of which would be an equivalent to
the gold unit, in another they formed a silver unit, 15 of which would
be equivalent to the same gold unit of 130 grs. In each case a
number convenient for purposes of exchange was substituted for the
extremely unmanageable number 13 (or still more intractable 13·3)
of the older system, according to which silver was made into ingots
of the same size as those of gold.
These now are the systems on which depended all traffic and
currency of the precious metals throughout Western Asia for many
centuries. I have been compelled in the statement of the two silver
systems to anticipate one step in the growth of the fully developed
weight system by speaking of the Talent. We have seen that the
mina of silver, like that of gold, contains only 50 shekels, thus
evidently having likewise been developed before the full elaboration
of the Chaldaean system of numeration, or at least before the
application of that system to their metric standards. But when we
come to deal with the talent we find that in every case alike,
whether it be the gold, silver, or royal talent of commerce, the talent
invariably consists of sixty minae. From this we may with safety infer
that it was at a period posterior to the invention of the sexagesimal
method that the Talent was added to the gold and silver systems.
When we turn to the royal system (both light and heavy), we find
that the mina consists of sixty shekels, just as the talent consists of
60 minae, and consequently we are constrained to believe that this
royal system was fixed at a date long after the growth of the gold
and silver minae, and when the sexagesimal system had now
complete sway. We have already seen good reason for considering
the royal talent to be essentially a mercantile unit. It certainly was
not used for gold or silver. Corn was not sold by weight, and so in all
probability it was meant for copper, iron, lead, and merchandise of
value. We have learned from our studies in the metal trade of
primitive peoples that copper and iron are not weighed but are sold
by measurement, being wrought into bars or plates of a well defined
size. It is only when communities are well advanced in culture that
they begin to employ the scales for the buying and selling of the
common metals. We argued above that the double shekel system
arose from a desire amongst a nation of traders like the Phoenicians
for a heavier standard, more serviceable for such goods as were less
valuable than gold. It was probably the same desire which found its
complete realization in the royal system. Whilst gold and silver had
only the mina as their highest unit, there was a new system
developed scientifically from the ancient shekel or ox-unit. The sixty-
fold of this unit was taken to form a mina considerably heavier than
the old gold mina, and now a new higher unit, the sixty-fold of the
mina, was introduced. This we know under its Greek name of talent,
but it was called kikkar in the Semitic languages. Now are we to
suppose that this kikkar or talent was purely and simply nothing
more than a higher unit formed by taking a convenient multiple of
the lower unit, just as in the French metric system the kilogram is
1000 times the gramme; or was it rather some ancient natural unit,
originally formed empirically, and at a later epoch, when science had
advanced, fitted into the system of commercial weight by being
made exactly the sixty-fold of the mina? Comparison with other
systems in various lands will incline us to the latter alternative. If we
enquire for a moment in what manner the highest unit of weight for
merchandise is fixed among barbarous and semi-civilized
nationalities, we shall find that the load, that is, the amount that a
man of average size and strength can carry, is the universal unit.
Readers of the various recent books of African travel frequently meet
in their dreary and monotonous pages allusions to so many loads for
which porters have to be supplied. The amount of the load seems to
vary in different parts. Thus amongst the Madi or Moru tribe of
Central Africa, a pure negro race, according to that admirable
observer Mr Felkin, the load is about 50 lbs. in weight, whilst
according to Major Barttelot, the load carried by the Zanzibaris on
the Emin Pacha Relief expedition was 65 lbs. (besides the man’s own
rations for several days). We have already had occasion to refer to
the picul of Eastern Asia, which we found was simply the Malay word
for a load; and we also found that the load varied in different places.
Finally, we found that the Chinese had introduced the picul into their
system of commercial weight, fixing it at 100 chings (catties), but at
the same time excluded it from their silver and gold system, where
the tael (ounce) has remained always the highest unit. Yet in
Cambodia we find that the further step has been made, and that the
commercial system of the catty and picul has been called into
service for the weighing of silver. In Java, whilst gold and silver are
weighed by units of small size, copper is sold by the picul.
It seems to me not unreasonable to suppose that the origin of the
talent has been analogous to that of the picul. There is certainly
nothing in either the Hebrew kikkar or the Greek talanton to imply in
the slightest degree that they represented a numerical multiple of
the mina. The Greek word means simply a weight, whilst the
Hebrew seems to mean nothing more than a round mass or cake of
anything, whether applied to a tract of country, as the region round
the Jordan (as in Nehemiah vii. 28), or a loaf of bread (Exodus xxix.
23; 1 Samuel ii. 36). For as the talent was only introduced into the
Hebrew system at a late period the term was probably applied to a
cake or pig of copper or iron the weight of the ordinary load. That
there was a direct connection between the kikkar and a man’s load
seems implied by the fact that Naaman “bound two talents of silver
in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two
of his servants; and they bare them before him” (2 Kings v. 23). As
we find Naaman asking Elisha for “two mules’ burden of earth” (v.
17) it is at least certain that the Semites regularly estimated bulky
weights by some kind of load. We saw above that in Assyrian the
same ideogram stands for tribute and talent. If a load of corn was
the regular unit for tribute, the use of a single ideogram may be
explained. In the case of talanton we have no difficulty in directly
regarding it as a load, whilst with kikkar it is not difficult to see how
easy it was for the meaning of a load of a certain weight to spring
from the earlier meaning of the word. Its use as a loaf is interesting
in connection with the fact noted on p. 159 that in Annam the
largest unit in use for gold and silver is called a loaf.
When under a strong central government a metric system more or
less scientific was introduced at Babylon, it was natural that an
accurate adjustment of the old empirical unit of merchandise, the
load, to the mina and shekel should be carefully carried out, just as
in China the Mathematical Board have fixed the picul of commerce
as the hundred fold of the ching (catty), giving it a value equal to
133⅓ lbs. avoirdupois. Such scientific adjustments take place in all
countries with the advance of civilization and commerce, and above
all under the influence of a strong central government. Let us reflect
how long it has taken for the English Statute Acre to conquer the
local ancient acres in use in various parts of the United Kingdom,
such as the Irish, the Scotch or the Winchester acre. In like fashion,
although the standards of weight and capacity were regulated by Act
of Parliament in 1824, local usage still held on, and units of weight
unknown to the Statute still survive in the usage of provincial places.
Now it is not unreasonable to suppose that the name royal or king’s
weight was given to the Babylonian commercial system, which was
constructed on purely sexagesimal lines, because it was enforced by
royal proclamation and power throughout the whole of the empire,
and that in like manner the royal cubit mentioned by Herodotus (i.
178) owes its origin to the establishment of one uniform standard
for the dominions of the Great King. In fact no better illustration of
what took place can be found than that afforded by our own terms
such as imperial pint, or imperial gallon, or in a less degree by the
statute acre, as contrasted with the older customary pints, or
gallons, or acres. The mistake made by metrologists, in regarding
the scientifically constructed Babylonian system as the first
beginning of the art of weighing, is just as great as if a person
writing a manual of English Metrology were to start with the metric
legislation of 1824 as the first beginning of our metrology, and were
to try and explain all traces of an earlier system or systems by
forcing the facts into some sort of conformity with our modern
standards. Undoubtedly in such an effort great facility would be
found inasmuch as the present scientific standards are simply the
ancient units of the realm accurately defined. But the reader will
best understand the relations which probably existed between the
Babylonian royal standard (both single and double) by having a short
account of the adjustment of our standards laid before him. Great
inconvenience having been felt in the United Kingdom for a long
time from the want of uniformity in the system of weights and
measures, which were in use in different parts of it, an Act of
Parliament was passed in 1824 and came into force on January the
1st 1826, by which certain measures and weights therein specified
were declared to be the only lawful ones in this realm under the
name of imperial weights and measures. It was settled by this Act
(1) that a certain yard-measure, made by an order of Parliament in
1760 by a comparison of the yards then in common use, should
henceforward be the imperial yard and the standard of length for the
kingdom: and that, in case this standard should be lost or injured, it
might be recovered from a knowledge of the fact that the length of a
pendulum, oscillating in a second in vacuo in the latitude of London
and at the level of the sea (which can always be accurately obtained
by certain scientific processes), was 39·13929 inches of this yard:
(2) that the half of a double pound Troy, made at the same time
(1760), should be the Imperial Pound Troy and the standard of
weight; and that of the 5760 grains which this pound contains, the
pound Avoirdupois should contain 7000; and that, in case this
standard should be lost or injured, it might be recovered from the
knowledge of the fact that a cubic inch of distilled water at the
temperature of 62° Fahrenheit, and when the barometer is at 30 in.,
weighs 252·458 grains: (3) that the imperial gallon and standard of
capacity should contain 277·274 cubic inches (the inch being above
defined), which size was selected from its being nearly that of the
gallons already, in use, and from the fact that 10 lbs. Avoirdupois of
distilled water weighed in air at a temperature of 62° Fahrenheit,
and when the barometer stands at 30 in., will just fill this space. On
p. 180 we saw that the standard gallon in the Tudor period
ultimately depended on the pennyweight, which was, as we found,
fixed by being the weight of 32 grains of wheat, dry and taken from
the midst of the ear of wheat after the ancient laws of the realm. It
was from the descendants of this gallon that the imperial gallon of
1824 was fixed, with a slight modification so as to make it contain
10 lbs. of distilled water weighed in air at a temperature of 62° and
when the barometer stands at 30 in. The double pound Troy made in
1760 depended in like fashion for its ultimate origin on the wheat-
grains, and it also affords us an interesting illustration of the
doubling of the original single unit, such as we find in the heavy
royal Babylonian system. We may find further analogies between our
own system and that of the Babylonians. Whilst at the Mint gold and
silver are weighed for coinage by Troy weight, the copper coinage on
the other hand is regulated by the lb. Avoirdupois, the ordinary
commercial standard. As already remarked, it is almost certain from
the method of elimination that copper was the principal article for
which the royal Babylonian system was employed, as gold and silver
had separate standards of their own, and corn was sold by measure
and not by weight.
To sum up then the results of our enquiry into the Assyrio-
Babylonian system, we started with the so-called light shekel or ox-
unit as the basis of the system; and found that gold and silver were
weighed by it and by its fifty-fold, the maneh, which may have been
itself a natural measure of capacity, such as the catty used in
Eastern Asia, where we know for certain that this weight was
originally a measure of capacity obtained from the joints of bamboos
or the cocoanut; that in a certain part of the empire a need was felt
for a slightly heavier unit for the weighing of silver and precious
commodities such as gums and spices, and that accordingly the
great trading Aramaic peoples used the two-fold of the ox-unit (260
grains Troy); that at the earliest period copper would not be sold by
weight but would be sold by bars or plates of fixed dimensions, as is
still the practice with iron and copper among the barbarous peoples
of Further Asia and Africa; that with the advance of culture the art of
weighing was extended to copper and other articles of small value in
proportion to their bulk, and that, as the maneh, or contents of a
gourd, and the load or amount that a man could carry on his back,
had been most probably in general use as units for common
merchandise, the time came when under the all-mastering authority
of the Great King a standard based on the ancient ox-unit, but
framed on the new scientific sexagesimal system, was established
for copper and certain other kinds of merchandise; that in this
system 60 shekels made the maneh, and the load (the kikkar or
talent) was adjusted to the new system as the sixty-fold of the
maneh; and that in the course of time this higher unit of the kikkar
or talent was added to the gold and silver systems, sixty manehs in
each case making the kikkar as in the case of the royal or
commercial system; that in the case of silver, which on its first
discovery and employment was as valuable as gold, and was
therefore weighed on the same standard, when in course of time it
became about thirteen times less valuable than gold, and there was
a difficulty experienced in exchanging the units of gold and silver; a
separate standard was created by dividing into ten new parts or
shekels the amount of silver which was the equivalent of the gold
shekel (ox-unit); that this was probably developed before the royal
commercial mina of 60 shekels had been formed, as in that case the
silver mina would have contained 60 shekels likewise; we were able
to give an explanation of the name royal as applied to the
commercial standard by regarding it as of late origin, created by a
supreme central authority for the regulation of the commerce of a
great empire made up of a heterogeneous mass of races, just as in
the present century our own imperial standards have been fixed for
the whole kingdom, being based, as was the Babylonian, on an
ancient unit empirically obtained; and just as the royal arms are
stamped on our imperial standards, so the weights of the Assyrian
royal system were shaped in the form of a lion, the symbol of royalty
throughout the East. Finally we found that at the base of the
Assyrio-Babylonian system lay, as the determinant of the ox-unit or
shekel, the grain of wheat, which we have already traced all across
Europe into Asia. We can therefore now come to a very reasonable
conclusion that the Assyrio-Babylonian weight system was in its
origin empirical, and that it was only at a comparatively late date in
its history, just as in the case of our own standards, that a certain
uniformity between the standards of measures and weights was
brought about by the (not complete) application of the sexagesimal
system of numeration, the invention of which is their eternal glory.
Having now dealt with Egypt, and the systems which prevailed in
the Assyrio-Babylonian empire, it will be best to treat of the region
which lay between them. In both the former countries we found the
light shekel or ox-unit in use from the earliest times; and it will also
be remembered that at an earlier stage we found that Abraham was
able to traverse all the wide country that lay between Mesopotamia
and the ancient kingdom of the Nile with his flocks and herds, and
that he dwelt in the land of Canaan in close neighbourhood and on
friendly terms with the sons of Heth, or Hittites, who were then the
possessors of that land; and that furthermore monetary transactions
were then carried on by means of certain small ingots of silver, as
we see from the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah. These ingots,
translated shekels in the English version and called didrachms in the
Septuagint, are termed in Hebrew Keseph (‎‫‏ֶּכֶס ף‏‬‎), simply pieces of
silver, or silverlings. In the old Hebrew literature values in silver and
gold are expressed either in shekels or by a simple numeral with the
words “of silver,” “of gold” added (where the latter method is
followed the English version supplies pieces or substitutes “a
thousand silverlings” for “a thousand of silver” (Isa. vii. 23). The
Septuagint renders the shekel by the Greek didrachm). There are
several inferences to be drawn from this. It is evident that pieces of
silver (and no doubt of gold also) of a certain quality and weight
were employed as currency in Palestine, and we may likewise
suppose with some probability that these pieces of silver were
according to the standard in common use in Egypt and Chaldaea.
Again, since we have already shown that gold in the form of rings
and other articles for personal adornment was exchanged according
to the ox-unit of 130-5 grs., as evidenced by the story of the ring
given to Rebekah, it follows that there was but one and the same
standard for gold from the Euphrates to the Nile. This is confirmed
by the story of the sale of Joseph by his brethren to the company of
Ishmaelites “who came from Gilead with their camels bearing spices
and balm and myrrh going to carry it down to Egypt”; to these
Ishmaelites or Midianites Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of
silver[319]. Here we have evidence that the same silver unit was
current from Gilead to Egypt. There are various other large sums of
silver mentioned both in Genesis and also in the Book of Judges and
in Joshua. Thus Abimelech, King of Gerar, is said to have given
Abraham a thousand [pieces] of silver[320], whilst the lords of the
Philistines persuaded Delilah to beguile Samson into telling her
wherein lay his great strength by the promise of eleven hundred
[pieces] of silver, which money she afterwards received[321].
Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) was enabled to form his
conspiracy by hiring ‘vain and light persons’[322] with the three-score
and ten [pieces] of silver taken by his mother’s brother from the
house of Baal-berith. Finally, we have a sum of eleven hundred
[pieces] of silver which were stolen by that “man of Mount Ephraim
whose name was Micah” from his mother, of which his mother took
(when he had restored the money) two hundred [shekels] and gave
them to the founder, who “made thereof a graven image and a
molten image[323].” Now although all these are considerable sums,
all exceeding a mina, yet there is no mention whatever made of the
latter unit of account in any of these passages. The story of another
theft shows that gold as well as silver was reckoned originally only
by the shekel and not by the mina. Thus Achan “saw among the
spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and two hundred shekels of
silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight[324].” As fifty
shekels were a mina, here if anywhere we ought to have found the
latter term. From this we infer without hesitation that the shekel was
the original unit.
But there is another word besides keseph which is translated piece
of money or piece of silver. This is the term qesitah (‎‫‏ְקׂׅש יָט ה‏‬‎) which
occurs in three passages of the Old Testament. Thus Jacob bought
the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent at the hand of
the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, “for an hundred pieces of
money” (Gen. xxxiii. 19); and the same word is used in the parallel
passage in Joshua (xxiv. 32) where the children of Israel buried
Joseph’s bones in Shechem in the parcel of ground which Jacob
bought for an hundred pieces of money. Lastly, Job’s kinsfolk and
acquaintances gave him every man a piece of money, and every one
a ring of gold (xlii. 11). It has been always a matter of doubt what
this piece of money really was. The Septuagint translates qesitah in
these three passages by ἑκατὸν ἀμνῶν, ἑκατὸν ἀμνάδων, and
ἀμνάδα μίαν, thus in every case regarding it as a lamb. The most
ancient interpreters all agree in this, whilst some of the later Rabbis
regarded it as signifying a coin stamped with the form of a lamb:
one of them says that he found such a coin in Africa[325].
Fig. 25. Weights in the form of Sheep[326].

Long ago Prof. R. S. Poole, speaking of this word, said: “The


sanction of the LXX, and the use of weights bearing the forms of
lions, bulls, and geese by the Egyptians, Assyrians, and probably
Persians, must make us hesitate before we abandon a rendering
[lamb] so singularly confirmed by the relation of the Latin pecunia
and pecus[327].” The connection between weights and units of
currency is especially close at a time when coined money is as yet
unknown, and hence when we find weights in the form of sheep
coming from Syria, and also recollect that sheep were employed as a
regular unit in Palestine for the paying of tribute, and with the light
obtained from primitive systems of currency, we may well conclude
that the qesitah was an old unit of barter, like the Homeric ox, and
as the latter was transformed into a gold unit, so the former was
superseded by an equivalent of silver. We read (2 Kings iii. 4) that
Mesha, king of Moab (now so famous from the inscription which
bears his name), was a sheep-master, and he rendered unto the
king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs, and one hundred
thousand rams with the wool. When payment in metal came more
and more into use silver served as the sub-multiple of gold, just as
sheep formed that of the ox, and it is not surprising that in later
times when coins were struck by the Phoenicians, as at Salamis in
Cyprus and many other places, bearing a sheep or a sheep’s head,
there arose some doubt as to whether the qesitah was a sheep, a
piece of uncoined silver, or a coin stamped with a sheep. The very
fact of the Phoenicians having such a predilection for this type is in
itself an indication that the silver coin in its origin represented the
value of a sheep. At a later stage, when we come to deal with the
early Greek coin types, we shall develop this principle more
completely. The mere fact that the sheep on the Phoenician coins is
sometimes found accompanying a divinity does not militate against
our doctrine, as I shall explain when I deal with the coins of
Messana and Thasos.

Fig. 26. Coin of


Salamis in Cyprus.

But then comes the question, which was the shekel employed by
the Hebrews? It must have been either (1) the ox-unit of 130 grs.,
used alike for gold and silver in early days both in Egypt and
Mesopotamia and Greece, or (2) the double of this, or heavy shekel
of 260 grs., used for gold only in parts of Asia Minor, or (3) the
Phoenician shekel of 225 grs., used only for silver and electrum
along the coast of Asia Minor, and never employed for gold, or (4)
the Babylonian or Persic standard of 172 grs., used only for silver. In
later times the silver shekel in use amongst the Jews was most
undoubtedly the Phoenician shekel, obtained, as we saw above, by
dividing the amount of silver equivalent to the double gold shekel
into 15 parts. But it may be reasonably doubted whether the silver
piece or shekel (called always a didrachmon in the Septuagint)
mentioned in Genesis and Judges is the Phoenician shekel. It is used
without any distinctive epithet, as if it were the weight par
excellence, and is employed for gold as well as silver. But when we
turn to certain other passages we find mention made of a shekel
called the Shekel of the Sanctuary[328]. This shekel is frequently
mentioned, generally in connection with silver, and in reference to
such things as the contribution of the half-shekel to the Tabernacle,
the redemption of the firstborn, the sacrifice of animals, and the
payment of the seer. Yet we find this shekel likewise employed in the
estimation of gold, a fact which at once shews that it is neither the
Phoenician shekel of 220 grs. nor the Persic of 172 grs., both of
which were confined to silver. It must then have been either the ox-
unit of 130 grs. or the heavy shekel of 260 grs. As the latter was
confined in use to gold it follows that the ox-unit of 130 grs. alone
fits the conditions required. If then we can discover what in the case
of either silver or gold was the weight of this shekel, we shall have
determined it for both metals, for it will hardly be maintained that
there was one shekel of the Sanctuary for gold and one of different
weight for silver.
Now we read in Exodus (xxxviii. 24 seqq.) that “all the gold that
was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy [place], even
the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents and seven
hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary. And
the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an
hundred talents and a thousand seven hundred and three-score and
fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary; a bekah for every
man, that is, half a shekel after the shekel of the Sanctuary, for
every one that went to be numbered from twenty years old and
upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five
hundred and fifty men. And the brass of the offering was seventy
talents and two thousand and four hundred shekels.” From this
passage we learn that, whilst the gold and silver were estimated on
the shekel of the Sanctuary (or Holy Shekel), the brass was probably
reckoned by some other standard.
It is also of importance to note that it is the shekel which is
regarded as the unit of the system, for we never hear of a talent or
mina of the Sanctuary. From this passage likewise we readily
discover that the talent of silver contained 3000 shekels (603,550 ÷
2 = 301,775 shekels - 1775 = 300,000 ÷ 100 = 3000 shekels).
Now when king Solomon made three hundred shields of beaten
gold, three minas (translated pounds in the Authorized Version) went
to one shield (1 Kings x. 17). But in the parallel passage (1 Chron.
ix. 1) we read that “three hundred shields made he of beaten gold,
three hundred shekels went to one shield,” from which it is evident
that a maneh of gold contained 100 shekels[329]. A very important
conclusion follows from these facts, for it is plain that when the
Hebrews adopted the heavy or double maneh from the Phoenicians
they did not adopt for gold and silver at the same time the double
shekel, of which that maneh was the fifty-fold, but on the contrary
they retained their own old unit of the light shekel, and made one
hundred of them equivalent to the Phoenician or heavy Assyrian
mina. Since this light shekel was employed in the estimation of the
gold and silver dedicated by King Solomon for the adornment of the
Temple, this shekel can hardly be any other than the Holy Shekel of
the Sanctuary.
We are thus led to conclude that the shekel was the same both for
gold and silver, and was simply the time-honoured immemorial unit
of 130-5 grs.
It is natural on other grounds that this should be the unit
employed by the Israelites for the precious metals, since it was the
unit employed both for silver and gold in Egypt, the land of their
bondage.
The question next suggests itself, Why was the shekel called by a
distinctive name? It is only when there are two or more examples or
individuals of the same kind that any need arises for a distinctive
appellation: again, as we have already observed, in such cases the
older institution continues to prevail in all matters religious or legal.
It is important to note that in Exodus xxi. 32, a passage which the
best critics consider of great antiquity, the penalties are expressed in
shekels simply without any distinctive appellation. At that period
there was probably only one shekel (the ox-unit of 130-5 grs.) as yet
in use, and so there was no need to distinguish the shekel in which
fines were paid. This shekel was then described in the later part of
Exodus, where there was a second standard in use, as the holy
shekel. As a matter of fact we have another weight mentioned in 2
Samuel (xiv. 26), where it is related of Absalom that “when he polled
his head (for it was at every year’s end that he polled it: because the
hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it) he weighed the hair of
his head at two hundred shekels after the king’s weight[330].”
Now it will be observed that in the passage from Exodus quoted
above, whilst the shekel of the Sanctuary is carefully mentioned
when amounts of gold and silver are enumerated, no such addition
is made in reference to the “seventy talents and two thousand and
four hundred shekels of brass.” If then the heavy or double shekel
and its corresponding mina and talent, known to us hitherto as the
royal Assyrio-Babylonian heavy standard, had already been
introduced among the Hebrews (and we have just seen that
according to the First Book of Kings it was in use, at least a mina of
50 double shekels (100 light) was employed for gold), nothing is
more likely than that this standard would bear a title similar to that
which it enjoyed in Babylonia and Syria, and be known as the king’s
weight or stone. As I have observed in the case of the royal Assyrian
standards that they were employed for copper, lead, and
commodities sufficiently costly to be sold by weight, so we may with
considerable probability conjecture that this king’s weight was
employed regularly among the Semites for the weighing of the less
precious metals, and other merchandise. Hence it is that there was
no need to add any explanation of the nature of the standard by
which the 70 talents of brass were weighed, and it was only because
in the case of Absalom’s hair we have an article not commonly
weighed, that it was thought necessary by the writer to make clear
to us by which of the two standards usually employed the estimate
of the weight of the year’s growth of hair was made. We may
therefore conclude with probability that “the king’s shekel” was no
other than the double shekel (260 grains). It will have been noted
that in Genesis and Judges, admittedly two of the oldest books,
there is mention made of only one kind of shekel, and that it is only
in Exodus, Numbers and Leviticus, all of late date, that we find the
shekel distinguished as that of the Sanctuary, and that it is only in
Samuel that we find reference made to the royal shekel. It is also
worthy of notice that neither in Genesis nor Judges is there any
mention made of a maneh or talent, although there was full
opportunity for the appearance of the former if it had been then in
use, as we find such sums as 400 shekels (4 manehs), 1100 shekels
(11 manehs) and 1700 shekels (17 manehs), whilst in the other
series of books named we find both the maneh and the talent. It is
not unreasonable therefore to suppose, that with the advent of the
maneh and kikkar or talent from their powerful kinsfolk and
neighbours came also the practice of employing the double shekel,
the fiftieth part of the mina of gold and mina of silver, which was
employed in that part of the Assyrio-Babylonian empire, where the
use of the heavy Assyrian shekel was in vogue. Besides gold and
silver, spices were likewise weighed according to the shekel of the
Sanctuary. “Take thee also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh
five hundred [shekels], and of sweet cinnamon half as much [even]
two hundred and fifty [shekels], and of sweet calamus two hundred
and fifty [shekels], and of cassia five hundred [shekels], after the
shekel of the Sanctuary[331].” If we had any doubt as to whether it
was not possible that there were two separate shekels of the
Sanctuary, one for gold, and one of different standard for silver, our
misgivings are at once dispelled by finding spices weighed after the
holy shekel. It is certainly incredible that there could have been a
separate standard of the Sanctuary for the weighing of spices. There
seems then no reasonable doubt that there was only one shekel of
the Sanctuary, and that the unit of 130 grains. In support of this we
may adduce Josephus[332], who made the Jewish gold shekel a
Daric (which as we have already seen is our unit of 130 grains). This
in turn derives support from the fact that the Septuagint, which
regularly renders the Hebrew sheqel (which like the Greek Talanton
means simply weight) by both siklos and didrachmon, not
unfrequently renders shekel of gold by chrysûs[333], which means of
course nothing more than gold stater, that is a didrachm of gold,
such as those struck by the Athenians, by Philip of Macedon,
Alexander and the successors of the latter, including the Ptolemies of
Egypt, under whom was made the Septuagint Version. We have thus
found the earliest Hebrew weight unit to be that standard which we
have found universally diffused, and which we have called the ox-
unit.
Next let us see how from this unit grew their system. In several
passages the shekel of the Sanctuary is said to consist of 20
gerahs[334], a word rendered simply by obolos in the Septuagint. As
before observed, the Hebrew metric system was essentially decimal,
like that of Egypt; in fact had Tacitus been a metrologist he might
have quoted this as an additional proof that the Jews were Egyptian
outcasts, expelled by their countrymen because they were afflicted
with a plague, perhaps the scabies[335], which so frequently affects
swine. The measures of capacity, both dry and liquid, are decimal,
and so accordingly we find a decimal division applied to the shekel.
The latter is divided into two bekahs (‎‫‏ֶּבַק ע‏‬‎, “a division,” “a half”),
and each bekah is divided into 10 gerahs (‎‫‏ֵּגָר ה‏‬‎). The latter signifies
“a grain” or “bean.” The Hebrew literature does not state what kind
of seed or grain it was, although it is defined by Rabbinical writers as
equal to 16 barleycorns. But the fact is that, as we see from the
Septuagint rendering, the name in the course of time came to be
considered simply as that of one-twentieth of the shekel, whether
that shekel was the shekel of the Sanctuary, the Phoenician silver
shekel of 220 grains, or the kings shekel of 260 grains used for
copper and lead. The gerah of the gold shekel or shekel of the
Sanctuary was probably the most ancient and came closest to the
natural seed from which it derived its name; this gerah would be
about 6½ grains (130 ÷ 20 = 6·5). On an earlier page (p. 194) we
gave the weights of a number of grains and seeds of plants, and
amongst them that of the lupin, called by the Greeks thermos.
According to the ancient tables the thermos is equal to two keratia,
or siliquae (the seeds of the carob tree); but since each siliqua = 4
wheat grains, the thermos = 8 wheat grains, or 6 barleycorns, or 6
Troy grains. If the wheat grain in Palestine was as heavy as that of
Egypt or Africa (·051 gram, instead of ·047 gram.), the 8 wheat
grains, would = 6·4 grains troy. Again, the Roman metrologists
estimated the lupin as the third part of the scripulum, which
weighed 24 grains of wheat[336]; thus the Roman lupin also = 8
wheat grains. We may therefore have little doubt that the gerah was
simply the lupin[337]. But what about the Rabbinical gerah of 16
barleycorns? In the first place let us recall the confusion which exists
in the Arab metrologists respecting the habba, some making three
habbas, some four equal to the karat. This arose, as we saw, from
confounding the wheat and barley grain. If the 16 grains assigned to
the gerah by the Rabbis are really wheat grains, all is at once clear.
The gerah to which they refer is that of the royal or double shekel
(260 grs.), or in other words it is a double gerah. We have just found
the gerah of the Sanctuary shekel to be the lupin, and equal to 8
wheat grains, accordingly its double will contain 16 wheat grains.
Nothing is more common than a change in the value of a natural
weight unit, when in the course of time its real origin has been
forgotten, and it has been adjusted to meet the requirements of
newer systems. Thus the value of the Greek thermos and its Roman
equivalent the lupin both suffered in later days, and were regarded
as only equal to 6 wheat grains instead of the original 8 owing to a
like confusion between wheat grains and barleycorns. Finally there is
a further reason why the authors of the Septuagint Version would
translate gerah by obolos. Writing at Alexandria under Ptolemaic
rule, at a time when the Ptolemaic silver stater of 220 grains
contained exactly 20 obols of the Attic or ordinary Greek standard of
11 grains, they would all the more readily adopt a rendering, which
harmonized so well with the monetary system of their own day; at
the same time the Greek habit of dividing all staters into 12 obols,
no matter on what standard the stater was struck, naturally would
incline them all the more to regard the gerah not as an actual
weight, but simply as the twentieth of the shekel, be the shekel
what it might.
The Hebrew gold standard accordingly consisted of a shekel of
130 grains, subdivided into 2 bekahs or halves; each of which in turn
contained 10 gerahs or lupins: 100 such shekels made a maneh, and
according to Josephus[338] 100 manehs made a kikkar or talent. It
would thus appear that, just as in the time of Solomon the heavy
mina had been introduced which was equal to 100 shekels of the
Sanctuary, so the Hebrews carried out consistently this principle by
making 100 minae go to the talent. It is however most probable that
before that time they had employed a maneh of their own of 50 light
shekels, for we have seen above that the talent of silver mentioned
in Exodus consisted of only 3000 shekels, just as in all the other gold
and silver systems of Asia Minor and Greece: and since we have
proved that the silver shekel of the Sanctuary was the ordinary light
shekel of 130 grains, it is evident that the silver talent is not made
up of 3000 double shekels, but is really nothing more than the sixty-
fold of a mina which contained 50 shekels of the ox-unit standard. If
gold was weighed at all by any higher standard than the shekel, it is
almost certain that it must have been weighed by this mina and
talent[339]. However, by the time of the monarchy it is most probable
that the double or heavy mina had been introduced for silver as well
as for gold. In fact the probabilities are that it was applied for the
weighing of silver before that of gold. Thus when Naaman the leper
set out to go to the Hebrew prophet, “he took with him ten talents
of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of
raiment[340].” Here the 6000 gold pieces are perhaps the 6000 light
shekels which would make a talent of the heavy Assyrian standard
after the ordinary Phoenician system of 50 shekels = 1 mina, and 60
minae = 1 talent: and doubtless Naaman counted these 6000 gold
pieces as a talent of gold; but inasmuch as the Hebrews had a
peculiar system of their own, by which 100 minae, and 10,000 light
shekels went to the kikkar, these 6000 are not described as a talent
by the Hebrew writer. We may thus regard the silver talent as
consisting of 3000 light shekels, at the earliest period, and later on
as of 3000 heavy shekels: finally, when coinage was introduced and
money was struck under the Maccabees on the Phoenician silver
standard, it consisted of 3000 shekels of 220 grs. each. But there is
one period about which we find great difficulty in coming to any
conclusion. After the return from the Babylonian captivity what
standards were employed for gold and silver? As Judaea formed part
of the dominions of the Great King, we would naturally expect to
find in Nehemiah and Ezra traces of the standard then employed
throughout the Persian Empire for the precious metals. As we have
found that the light shekel formed the unit for gold from first to last,
and as it was also the gold unit of the Babylonians and Assyrians, we
may unhesitatingly assume that it formed the basis of the Jewish
system in the days of Nehemiah (446 b.c.). As regards the silver
standard we have fortunately one piece of evidence, which may give
us the right solution. We found that in Exodus each male Israelite
contributed a bekah, or half a shekel (of the Sanctuary) to defray
the cost of the tabernacle: this half-shekel was a drachm of about 65
grs. Troy. Now after the Return from Captivity, we find Nehemiah (x.
32) writing: “We made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly
with the third part of a shekel[341] for the service of the house of our
God.” Why the third of a shekel instead of the half of earlier days?
When we read of the generous and self-sacrificing efforts made by
the Jews to restore the ancient glories of the Temple worship, we
can hardly believe that it was through any desire to reduce the
annual contribution. The solution is not far to seek when we
recollect that the Babylonian silver stater of that age weighed about
172·8 grs. This formed the standard of the empire, and doubtless
the Jews of the Captivity employed it like the rest of the subjects of
the Great King. The third part of this stater or shekel weighed about
58 grains; so that practically the third part of the Babylonian silver
shekel was the same as the half of the ancient light shekel, or shekel
of the Sanctuary. From this we may not unreasonably infer that after
the Return the Jews employed the Babylonian silver shekel as their
silver unit, and this probably continued in use until Alexander by the
victories of Issus and Arbela overthrew the Persian Empire, and
erected his own on its ruins. But although the Babylonian shekel was
the official standard of the empire there can be no doubt that the
old local standards lingered on, or rather held their ground
stubbornly in not a few cases. We saw above that the Aramaean
peoples had especially preferred the double shekel, and from it they
developed the so-called Phoenician or Graeco-Asiatic silver standard.
Gold being to silver as 13·3:1, one double shekel of 260 grains of
gold was equal to fifteen reduced double shekels of silver of 225
grains each. Now it is important to note that the Phoenician shekel
or stater was always considered not as a didrachm but as a
tetradrachm; a fact which is explained by its development from the
old double shekel, which of course was regarded as containing four
drachms, and which at the same time explains why it is that in the
New Testament the Temple-tax of the half shekel is called a
didrachm, the term applied to the shekel itself in the Septuagint.
When the Jews coined money under the Maccabees, they struck
their silver coins on this Phoenician standard, and their shekel was
always regarded as a tetradrachm. For the ancient half shekel of the
Sanctuary they soon substituted the half of their shekel coins, that is
about 110 instead of 65 grains of silver. This change probably took
place under the Maccabees; silver had then probably become much
more plentiful in Judaea as shown by the fact that they were able to
issue a silver coinage. When those who collected the Temple-tax
asked Christ for his didrachm, he bade Simon Peter go to the sea
and catch a fish, in the mouth of which he would find a stater, “that
give him, said he, for both me and thee.” As the stater evidently
sufficed to pay a didrachm for each, there can be no doubt that the
shekel or stater was considered by the Jews to be a tetradrachm.
It is very uncertain whether the Hebrews at any time employed a
maneh of 60 shekels. They most certainly did not do so for gold and
silver, and probably not even for copper and other cheap
commodities. Very unfortunately the famous passage in Ezekiel (xlv.
12), which deals with weights and measures, is so confused in the
description of the maneh that we cannot employ it as evidence. The
one element of certainty is that the gold shekel never varied from
first to last. It is likewise probable that, whilst the heavy maneh was
introduced for gold silver and copper alike, the shekel always
remained the same, 100 shekels being counted to the mina of gold
and silver in the royal system, whilst 50 shekels always continued to
be regarded as composing the maneh of the Sanctuary, such as we
found it in the Book of Exodus. To confirm this view of the shekel we
can cite the Bull’s-head weight (fig. 27), which came from
Jerusalem, and weighs 36·800 grammes, which represents the
amount of 5 light shekels (making allowance for a small fracture),
the light shekel being 8·4 grams. (130 grs.). It is plain that this is a
multiple of the light and not of the heavy shekel, for it is not likely
that such a multiple as 2½ would be employed. On the other hand,
we found the five-fold multiple of the light shekel appearing in the
Assyrian system, and also the Egyptian.

Fig. 27. Bull’s-head Five-


shekel Weight.

The Hebrew systems, as we have tentatively set them forth, may


be seen in the following tables.
I. Earliest period. Shekel of 130-5 grs. alone employed for gold
and probably silver.
II. Mosaic period. Gold and Silver. (The old light shekel or ox-unit
is now called shekel of the Sanctuary to distinguish it from its
double.)

50 light Shekels = 1 Maneh


3000 light Shekels = 60 Manehs = 1 Kikkar (talent).

III. Regal period. Gold.


100 light (= 50 double) = 1 heavy Maneh
shekels
5000 heavy (= 10,000 light) = 100 heavy =1
” Manehs talent.

The same system was probably employed for silver and copper,
but instead of counting 100 light shekels to the Maneh as in the case
of gold, they reckoned silver and copper by the double shekel,
probably called the king’s shekel in contradistinction to that of the
Sanctuary.
IV. After the Return. The light shekel still retained for gold, and
the Babylonian, or Phoenician silver standard, employed for silver.
V. Maccabean Period. Gold on the old standard, and silver (now
first coined) struck on the Phoenician silver standard of 220 grains.
Copper was estimated most probably on the old double shekel
system; and most likely the royal Assyrian heavy system of 60
shekels to the maneh and 60 manehs to the talent was adopted in
its entirety for copper and other articles of no great value in
proportion to their bulk[342].

Phoenician Standard.
The total loss of the literature and records of the Phoenicians, and
the fact that neither in their own country nor in the greatest of their
colonies, Carthage, did they employ coined money until a
comparatively late period, make the task of restoring their weight
system very difficult if not hopeless. The silver standard called
Phoenician or Graeco-Asiatic is the sole evidence to show that they
employed as their unit for gold the heavy Babylonian shekel of 260
grs. On the other hand we have just seen that their close
neighbours, the Hebrews, from first to last, and the ancient people
of the Nile with whom the Phoenicians were in the closest trade
relations (having large trading communities settled in the Delta, and
from whom they had borrowed the hieroglyphic syllabic symbols,
which with them became the Alphabet), had employed the light
shekel, the only gold unit that likewise from first to last prevailed
throughout the vast regions of Central Asia Minor, and as we have
seen, was the unit of Greece even in the early days when the great
cities of Mycenae and Tiryns were in direct contact with, and
deriving their arts and civilization from Asia or from Egypt.
The derivation of the Phoenician silver standard of about 225 grs.
(14·58 gram.) according to the hitherto received doctrine is as
follows. As the Babylonians formed their silver standard by making
into ten pieces the amount of silver equivalent to the “light gold
shekel,” so the Phoenicians and Syrians are supposed to have
divided the amount of silver equivalent to “the heavy shekel” into
fifteen pieces, gold being to silver in each case as 13·3:1. But we
ask why did the Phoenicians adopt so awkward a scale as the
quindecimal when it was possible for them to employ the decimal or
duodecimal? In the next place by the supposed system 7½ silver
shekels were equal to one light shekel, that is the gold unit which
was universally employed amongst all the peoples with whom they
traded: and what number could be more awkward for purposes of
exchange than 7½? If therefore we can show that it is probable that
at one period silver was exceedingly abundant in Phoenicia
compared with gold, and that consequently gold was worth
considerably more than 13 times its weight in silver, the sole support
for the heavy shekel being the Phoenician unit is removed, and the
theory of the fifteen stater system falls to the ground. It is well
known that the Phoenicians had much of the trade of Cilicia and the
other coast regions of Asia Minor in their hands. It was Cilicia that
produced the chief supplies of silver for Western Asia[343]. From this
land therefore the Phoenicians obtained vast quantities of silver, and
it was from them almost certainly the Egyptians, who had no native
silver, obtained a supply of that metal. But this was not all. About
1000 b.c. the Phoenicians, in their quest after new and unexhausted
regions, made their way westward and reached Spain. I have
already related the ancient stories which embody the account of the
marvellous amount of silver which the first bold explorers brought
back. We need not wonder then if in the days of king Solomon,
“silver was nothing accounted of” in Syria and Palestine. We also
saw that the relative value of gold and silver was just as liable to
fluctuate in ancient, as in modern times, according to the supply of
either metal, and when we come to deal with the Greek system we
shall find many instances of this. If we then suppose that gold was
to silver as 17:1 in Phoenicia, the gold shekel of 130 grs. would be
worth ten silver pieces of 220 grs. each. (130 × 17 = 2210; 2210 ÷
10 = 221). This is in reality far closer to the actual weight of the
coins than the result obtained by the old hypothesis: 260 × 13·3 =
3466 ÷ 15 = 231 grs. Troy, which is about 10 grs. higher than the
actual coin weights.
The approximation gained by our conjectural relation of 17:1, is
far closer than that obtained by that of 13·3:1. The conclusion is
probable that silver was far cheaper in Phoenicia and the contiguous
coasts than elsewhere in Asia Minor, and that it was natural that the
weight of the silver unit was increased in order to preserve the
relation in value between one gold unit, and ten silver units. Lastly
we may point out that at no place on the coast of Phoenicia or Asia
Minor, the region especially in contact with the Phoenicians, do we
find gold pieces struck on the heavy shekel. Electrum certainly was
coined on this foot; but of this we shall be able to give a satisfactory
explanation. We have (with the exception of some Lydian pieces) to
go as far north as Thasos or Thrace before we find a gold coin of
such a nature, which is of course nothing more than a double stater.
The Phoenician gold mina was probably like the Hebrew, which
was most likely borrowed from it, the fifty-fold of the heavy shekel,
100 gold shekels and 100 silver shekels constituting a maneh, as
amongst the Hebrews in the time of Solomon. But we can conjecture
with some probability that at an earlier stage they weighed their
gold and silver according to the old common ox-unit, which we
found in use among the Hebrews under the name of the Holy Shekel
or shekel of the Sanctuary. No doubt the mina for gold always
contained 100 light or 50 heavy shekels, and when their own
peculiar shekel of 220 grs. came into vogue for silver, 50 such
shekels made a mina. Finally, there can be little doubt that 60 minas
invariably went to the talent.
In the case of commercial weights, it is most probable that 60
heavy shekels made a mina: this is rendered almost perfectly certain
by the Lion weights with Phoenician as well as cuneiform inscriptions
found at Nineveh, 60 heavy minas forming a heavy talent.

The Phoenician Colonies.


It is worth while before going further to enquire whether we can
gain any light from the systems of weight employed by the famous
daughter-cities of Phoenicia, such as Gades and Carthage. A weight
bearing in Punic characters the name of the Agoranomos and the
numeral 100 has been found at Jol (Julia Caesarea) in North Africa,
but unfortunately it has suffered so much by corrosion from water
and the loss of its handle that it is impossible to make any tolerable
approximation to its original weight. Hultsch[344] conjectures with
some probability that, making allowance for its loss, it represents
100 drachms, and deduces from this that the Carthaginians treated
the drachm as their shekel, but for this latter hypothesis there seems
no sufficient evidence. If this supposition were true, the weight
would represent a half-mina of the Phoenician silver standard. But
there is one thing which this weight does prove, and that is that,
whether it be a mina or half-mina, it is the drachm or shekel, which
was evidently regarded as the unit of the system, not the mina.
Thus once more we get a confirmation of our general thesis that the
mina and talent are the multiples, and that it is the shekel or stater
which is the basis. Nor does the coinage of Carthage furnish us with
all the information that could be desired, for it was only after 410
b.c. that that great “mart of merchants” began to strike coins, and
even then it was only in her Sicilian possessions that she did so, no
doubt induced to adopt the practice by constant contact with her
Greek enemies: for not only the type (of Persephone) was borrowed
from Syracusan coins, but the very dies were engraved by the hands
of Greek artists. The gold coins are struck on a standard of about
120 grs. Troy, whilst the silver issue consists of tetradrachms of the
so-called Attic (or more simply light shekel or ox-unit) standard of
130-135 grs. Since during the same period (405-347 b.c.)
Syracuse[345] was issuing gold pieces on the Attic standard, it is
most probable that it is only through the want of heavier specimens
that we are compelled to set the Siculo-Punic coins issued at
Panormus (Palermo) and other places in Italy so low as 120 grs. It
was not until about the time of Timoleon (340 b.c.) that money was
coined at Carthage itself. This coinage consists wholly of gold,
electrum and bronze, down to the time of the acquisition of the rich
silver mines of Spain, and the foundation of New Carthage in that
country by Hasdrubal, the son-in-law of Hamilkar Barca and brother-
in-law of Hannibal, in the interval between the First and Second
Punic wars (241-218 b.c.), when large silver coins both Carthaginian
and Hispano-Carthaginian seem to have been first struck[346].
The gold and electrum coins of the first period are of the following
weights: gold 145 and 73 grs.; electrum 118, 58 and 27 grains. The
gold unit is thus some 10 grains higher than the normal value of the
ox-unit. If these coins belonged to an earlier period we might with
some confidence affirm that the variation was due to the plentiful
supply of gold derived by the Carthaginians from the still
unexhausted gold deposits of Western Africa. This is perhaps the
true explanation even at the late period when the coins were issued,
but there may have been a desire to adjust the three metals, gold,
electrum and silver, so that they might be conveniently exchanged.
It will be observed that the electrum coins are struck on a unit of
118 grs., and it is not at all improbable that silver was reckoned by
the same unit, even though not yet coined; for when the silver coins
appear they are struck on a standard of 118 or 236 grs. It will be at
once noticed that this standard is considerably higher than the
Phoenician silver standard found along the coasts of Asia Minor. It
may thus have been found convenient to raise by a few grains the
weight of the gold unit so as to harmonize the relations between the
three metals. Further speculation is vain, as we do not know the
proportion of gold contained in the electrum coins[347]. From what
we shall shortly learn about the electrum of Cyzicus, it is not
impossible that the gold piece of 73 grs. was worth an electrum
stater of 118 grs.
Coming to the Phoenicians of Spain we find that Gades, which did
not begin her coinage until about 250 b.c., employed a standard for
her silver of 78 grains, and that the island of Ebusus (Iviza) struck
didrachms of 154 grs., a half-drachm of 39 grs. and a quarter-
drachm. This coincides closely with the 78 grain drachm of Gades. It
is palpable that there is no connection between this standard and
the Phoenician standard of 220 grs. As the same system is found in
the cities of Emporiae and Rhoda (Ampurias and Rosas) in the north-
east of Spain, and in the earliest drachms of Massilia (Marseilles)
[348], it is far more reasonable to suppose that the relations between
gold and silver throughout Spain were such that, in order to make a
certain fixed number of silver pieces equivalent to the gold ox-unit, it
was found necessary to make the silver didrachm of about 156 grs.
and the drachm of 78 grs.
It would thus seem that the principle which we shall seek to
establish for the Greek silver standards held true of the Phoenician
likewise,—that whilst the gold unit, the basis of all weight, remains
unchanged or was but very slightly modified even at a late period
(when the idea of the original ox-unit must have become dimmed by
time), in order to effect a more complete harmonizing of a threefold
system of gold, electrum and silver, the silver units shew every kind
of variety, which can only be accounted for by supposing that owing
to the different relations between gold and silver in various regions
and at various periods in the same regions, it was found necessary
from time to time to increase or diminish the weight of the silver
unit. Thus if gold was to silver as 12:1 in the 3rd century b.c., we
find a ready explanation for the standard of Gades and Emporiae.
The gold unit of 130 grs. would be worth ten silver units of 156 grs.
each (130 × 12 = 1560 ÷ 10 = 156). So too the 118 gr. standard of
Carthage may be explained by supposing that gold was to silver as
11:1; for then 1 gold unit of 130 grs. = 12 silver of 118 grs. each
(130 × 11 = 1430 ÷ 12 = 119 grs.), duodecimal division perhaps
being preferred to the decimal owing to the relations between
electrum and silver, the former perhaps being as in Lydia[349]
counted at 10 times the value of the latter. If gold was to silver as
12:1, and electrum to silver as 8:1, electrum being thus nearly two-
thirds gold, one gold piece of 75 grs. = 1 piece of electrum of 118
grains, and 8 pieces of silver of 116 grs. each (75 × 12 = 900; 116
× 8 = 928), and 1 piece of electrum of 118 was worth 8 pieces of
silver of 116 grs. each. All this is, be it remembered, purely
conjectural, as we know nothing of the actual relations existing
between any pair of the metals.
However, when we come to deal with the electrum of Cyzicus we
shall be able to produce some data, which will at least show that our
suggested explanation of the relations existing between gold,
electrum and silver at Carthage is not purely chimerical.
Lastly comes the question of the commercial weight-system. We
have already spoken of the badly preserved weight from Jol, but we
could not say whether it was used for the precious metals, or more
ordinary merchandize. However, the great Phoenician inscription of
Marseilles, already referred to, makes it plain that even in the
weighing of meat they reckoned by the shekel and not by the mina;
for we find in it mention of 300 [shekels] and 150 [shekels] of flesh
from the victims. This completely accords with the 20 shekels of
food mentioned by Ezekiel (iv. 10), and clearly indicates that even in
what we may well believe to be the heavy commercial shekel, the
ancient decimal system had not been superseded by the
sexagesimal; and, further, that the mina had not succeeded in
supplanting the more ancient fashion of counting by shekels; for had
such been the case, the weight of the meat would have been
expressed in 6 manehs, or 3 manehs. This piece of evidence
confirms the results which we arrived at in the case of the Hebrews
—that it was only at a later period that reckoning by manehs came
into use. The Phoenician colonies of the West, including Carthage
herself, had probably been planted before the influences of the
Chaldaean system had obtained a solid footing in Palestine. We may
however not unreasonably believe that the Carthaginians employed
some such form of talent as we find in the Book of Exodus, 3000
shekels (50 × 60 = 3000) going to the talent, though as yet no
record has revealed to us the actual existence of either talent or
mina.

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