Baalshillem II ruled Sidon as a Persian-appointed vassal king during a period when the city functioned as the Achaemenid Empire's most strategically valuable naval base on the Levantine coast. Sidonian ships and crews formed the backbone of Persian naval operations, and the city's coinage circulated broadly across the eastern Mediterranean as a consequence of that military and commercial reach.
The dishekel denomination — roughly double the standard shekel — was produced in limited quantities relative to the smaller fractions, making surviving specimens uncommon. Betlyon's corpus remains the definitive reference for this series.
Baalshillem II ruled Sidon as a Persian-appointed vassal king during a period when the city functioned as the Achaemenid Empire's most strategically valuable naval base on the Levantine coast. Sidonian ships and crews formed the backbone of Persian naval operations, and the city's coinage circulated broadly across the eastern Mediterranean as a consequence of that military and commercial reach.
The dishekel denomination — roughly double the standard shekel — was produced in limited quantities relative to the smaller fractions, making surviving specimens uncommon. Betlyon's corpus remains the definitive reference for this series.