In 1000 bc Israelites paid their taxes in what ?
In trade and kind, usually. While metals were already being used as currency by then, not everyone had access to them, so the easiest way would be for the king’s tax collector to come to your farm or place of business, list your produce, and decide what the current tax is equivalent to. Naturally this didn’t make them very popular, and King Solomon had a very bad reputation as a havey taxer to fund his building and expansion projects. This came to a head after his death, when his heir, Rehoboam, was approached by a delegation of tribal representatives requesting he lower taxes. Rehoboam saw this as a challenge to his authority , and replied he would raise them instead to teach the people not to question him. This led to the majority of the Israeli tribes declaring independence from the Davidic line in Jerusalem and becoming their own klingdom under their leader, Jeroboam. Also, many times taxes were also “paid” as military levies - the king would commander every village, town, and city to send a certain amount of men to become soldiers in his army. Since this meant you had to travel far away, buy or make your own equipment, run a high risk of death or maiming, and you would not be paid except in loot while your family goes without a main provider, this was often considered an even worse form of taxation. In fact, the Hebrew word for “tax” originally meant “(military) levy”.
