The money changers exchanged Roman coins with pictures of the Emperor (graven images) for coins

acceptable for paying the Temple tax. They had a reputation for cheating people. There were also
animal sellers. Pilgrims were supposed to bring an animal to sacrifice, but many were from far away, so
there were traders who would sell a cheap animal like a dove.

The accounts in the Bible seem exagerated, but it seems likely Jesus overturned some tables. This
seemed to have been what led to his arrest. It appears in most accounts as the last of his actions. So it
seems significant in terms of what made him a martyr. Presumably, the religious authorities were
offended. Also, presumably these traders were paying rent to the Temple and probably payoffs to civil
and religious officials. Israel was under Roman rule, but there was a puppet king, and religious
authorites had some power.

It has been used against the Jews, with negative images of Jewish traders, and contrasting it with the
Christian approach. Of course Jesus and the disciples were all Jewish.

It was used in the Reformation, but curiously apparently more in the Counter Reformation to relate to
reducing corruption in the Church and removing heretics. El Greco, as the name implies a Greek from
Crete painting in Spain, created a famous image of the scene.

It was indeed forbidden for the temple's treasury to accept Roman coins. In Antiquities Josephus writes
about the Tyrian half-shekel, required by the Temple treasury to pay taxes and the disputes surrounding
the use of different currencies for this tax. He describes how the money-changers exchanged foreign
coins for shekels of Tyre, which were needed for the purchase of sacrificial animals and noted that Jews
were not allowed to use Roman or Greek coins for the Temple tax. So the Temple authorities accepted
only Tyrian coinage which was, at that time, known for its closed-winged eagle iconography and
depiction of Tyrian Melqart. Josephus' observation was later confirmed when half-shekels were
discovered near the Temple Mount and a shekel found inside a box of artifacts during a conservation
project at the Tower of David Museum. So it seems that they still accepted graven images - for a good
reason probably as the Tyrian shekel was the default currency for the southern Levant.

The money changers exchanged Roman coins with pictures of the Emperor (graven images) for coins
acceptable for paying the Temple tax. They had a reputation for cheating people. There were also
animal sellers. Pilgrims were supposed to bring an animal to sacrifice, but many were from far away, so
there were traders who would sell a cheap animal like a dove.

The accounts in the Bible seem exagerated, but it seems likely Jesus overturned some tables. This
seemed to have been what led to his arrest. It appears in most accounts as the last of his actions. So it
seems significant in terms of what made him a martyr. Presumably, the religious authorities were
offended. Also, presumably these traders were paying rent to the Temple and probably payoffs to civil
and religious officials. Israel was under Roman rule, but there was a puppet king, and religious
authorites had some power.

It has been used against the Jews, with negative images of Jewish traders, and contrasting it with the
Christian approach. Of course Jesus and the disciples were all Jewish.

It was used in the Reformation, but curiously apparently more in the Counter Reformation to relate to
reducing corruption in the Church and removing heretics. El Greco, as the name implies a Greek from
Crete painting in Spain, created a famous image of the scene.
It was indeed forbidden for the temple's treasury to accept Roman coins. In Antiquities Josephus writes
about the Tyrian half-shekel, required by the Temple treasury to pay taxes and the disputes surrounding
the use of different currencies for this tax. He describes how the money-changers exchanged foreign
coins for shekels of Tyre, which were needed for the purchase of sacrificial animals and noted that Jews
were not allowed to use Roman or Greek coins for the Temple tax. So the Temple authorities accepted
only Tyrian coinage which was, at that time, known for its closed-winged eagle iconography and
depiction of Tyrian Melqart. Josephus' observation was later confirmed when half-shekels were
discovered near the Temple Mount and a shekel found inside a box of artifacts during a conservation
project at the Tower of David Museum. So it seems that they still accepted graven images - for a good
reason probably as the Tyrian shekel was the default currency for the southern Levant.