Ancient Egyptian units of measurement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short descriptionThe ancient Egyptian units of measurement are those used by the dynasties of ancient Egypt prior to its incorporation in the Roman Empire and general adoption of Roman, Greek, and Byzantine units of measurement. The units of length seem to have originally been anthropic, based on various parts of the human body, although these were standardized using cubit rods, strands of rope, and official measures maintained at some temples.

Following Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia and subsequent death, his bodyguard and successor Ptolemy assumed control in Egypt, partially reforming its measurements, introducing some new units and hellenized names for others.

Length

Egyptian units of length are attested from the Early Dynastic Period. Although it dates to the 5th dynasty, the Palermo stone recorded the level of the Nile River during the reign of the Early Dynastic pharaoh Djer, when the height of the Nile was recorded as 6 cubits and 1 palmTemplate:Sfn (about Script error: No such module "convert".). A Third Dynasty diagram shows how to construct an elliptical vault using simple measures along an arc. The ostracon depicting this diagram was found near the Step Pyramid of Saqqara. A curve is divided into five sections and the height of the curve is given in cubits, palms, and digits in each of the sections.[1] [2]

At some point, lengths were standardized by cubit rods. Examples have been found in the tombs of officials, noting lengths up to remen. Royal cubits were used for land measures such as roads and fields. Fourteen rods, including one double-cubit rod, were described and compared by Lepsius.Template:Sfnp Two examples are known from the Saqqara tomb of Maya, the treasurer of Tutankhamun. Another was found in the tomb of Kha (TT8) in Thebes. These cubits are about Script error: No such module "convert". long and are divided into palms and hands: each palm is divided into four fingers from left to right and the fingers are further subdivided into ro from right to left. The rulers are also divided into hands[3] so that for example one foot is given as three hands and fifteen fingers and also as four palms and sixteen fingers.[4][2][5][6][7][3]

File:Coudée-turin.jpg
Cubit rod from the Turin Museum.

Surveying and itinerant measurement were undertaken using rods, poles, and knotted cords of rope. A scene in the tomb of Menna in Thebes shows surveyors measuring a plot of land using rope with knots tied at regular intervals. Similar scenes can be found in the tombs of Amenhotep-Sesi, Khaemhat and Djeserkareseneb. The balls of rope are also shown in New Kingdom statues of officials such as Senenmut, Amenemhet-Surer, and Penanhor.[1]

Units of Length[4][1]
Names Equivalents
English Egyptian Coptic Palms Digits MetricTemplate:Refn
Digit[8]
Finger[9]
Fingerbreadth[8]
Tebā[10] 		<hiero>D50</hiero>Template:Efn ḏbꜥ Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp[11] tēēbe Template:1/4 1 1.875 cm
Palm[8]
Hand[12]
Shesep[13] 		<hiero>D48</hiero>Template:Efn šsp Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp[11]
Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp
Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp
Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp		 shop
shoop
shōp
shap 		1 4 7.5 cm
Hand[14]
Handsbreadth[13] 		<hiero>D46</hiero>Template:Efn ḏrt Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp[15] hōhf <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1+1⁄4 5 9.38 cm
Fist[13] <hiero>D49</hiero>Template:Efn ḫfꜥ[13]
ꜣmm[16]		 ϭⲁϫⲙⲏTemplate:Sfnp
ϫⲁⲙⲏTemplate:Sfnp		 qajmē
jamē 		<templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1+1⁄2 6 11.25 cm
Double Handbreadth[16] <hiero>D48:D48</hiero>Template:Efn šspwy 2 8 15Script error: No such module "String".cm[16]
Small Span[13]
Pedj-Sheser
Shat Nedjes[13]
Little Shat[9] 		<hiero>H7-G37</hiero> pḏ šsr
šꜣt nḏs[13] 		Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp[15]
Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp 		rtō
ertō 		3 12 22.5 cm
Great Span[13]
Half-Cubit[16]
Pedj-Aa
Shat Aa[13]
Great Shat[9] 		<hiero>H7-O29</hiero>Template:Efn pḏ ꜥꜣ[13][16]
šꜣt ꜥꜣ[13] 		<templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />3+1⁄2 14 26 cm
Foot
Djeser[13]
Ser[10]
Bent Arm[13] 		<hiero>D45</hiero> ḏsr 4 16 30 cm
Shoulder
Remen[13]
Upper Arm[13] 		<hiero>D41</hiero> rmn 5 20 37.5 cm
Small Cubit[14]
Short Cubit[13]
Meh Nedjes[13] 		<hiero>D42-G37</hiero> mḥ nḏs
mḥ šsr 		Script error: No such module "Lang".[17][11]
Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp 		mahe
mehi 		6 24 45 cm
Cubit
Royal Cubit[13]
Sacred Cubit[12]
Meh Nesut[8]
Meh Nisut[13]
Mahi
Ell[17] 		<hiero>D42</hiero>Template:Efn mḥ 7 28 52.3Script error: No such module "String".cm[8]
52.5Script error: No such module "String".cm[12]
Pole
Nebiu[18] 		<hiero>N35:D58-M17-V1-T19</hiero> nbiw 8 32 60 cm
Rod
Rod of Cord
Stick of Rope[14]
Khet[8]
Schoinion[19] 		<hiero>W24-G43-V28</hiero>Template:Efn ḫt Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp
Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp		 hōte
hōti 		100 cubits[8] 52.5 m[19]
Schoenus[16]
River-Measure
League[16]
Ater[8]
Iter[14] or Iteru[16] 		<hiero> M17-X1:D21-G43-N35B-N36:N21*Z1</hiero>Template:Efn i͗trw ϣϥⲱTemplate:Sfnp
ϣⲃⲱTemplate:Sfnp		 shfō
shvō 		20,000 cubits[8] 10.5 km[8]

The digit was also subdivided into smaller fractions of Template:1/2, Template:1/3, Template:1/4, and <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄16.[20] Minor units include the Middle Kingdom reed of 2 royal cubits,Template:Efn the Ptolemaic xylon (Template:Langx, lit.Script error: No such module "String"."timber") of three royal cubits,[21][22] the Ptolemaic fathom (Template:Langx, orgyiá; Template:Langx; Template:Langx, hpot) of four lesser cubits,[23] and the kalamos of six royal cubits.[12]

Area

Records of land area also date to the Early Dynastic Period. The Palermo stone records grants of land expressed in terms of kha and setat. Mathematical papyri also include units of land area in their problems. For example, several problems in the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus give the area of rectangular plots of land in terms of setat and the ratio of the sides and then require the scribe to solve for their exact lengths.[4]

The setat was the basic unit of land measure and may originally have varied in size across Egypt's nomes.[14] Later, it was equal to one square khet, where a khet measured 100 cubits. The setat could be divided into strips one khet long and ten cubit wide (a kha).[1][4][24]

During the Old Kingdom:

Units of Area
Names Equivalents[25]
English Egyptian Coptic Setat Square
Cubits 		Metric
Sa[14]
Eighth 		<hiero>G39</hiero> zꜣ <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄800 <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />12+1⁄2 3.4456Script error: No such module "String".m2
Heseb
Fourth
Account Unit[14] 		<hiero>Z9</hiero> ḥsb <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄400 25 6.8913Script error: No such module "String".m2
Remen
Half
Shoulder[14] 		<hiero>D41</hiero> rmn <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄200 50 13.783Script error: No such module "String".m2
Ta
Khet[25]
Cubit[26]
Cubit of Land[26]
Land Cubit[16]
Ground Cubit[26]
Cubit Strip[26]
Land Unit[14] 		<hiero>N17</hiero>Template:Efn tꜣ
ḫt
mḥ
mḥ itn 		Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp[15] jise <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄100 100[25] 27.565Script error: No such module "String".m2
Kha
Thousand[14] 		<hiero>M12</hiero> ḫꜣ <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄10 1,000 275.65Script error: No such module "String".m2
Setat[25]
Setjat[25]
Aroura[25]
Square Khet[25] 		<hiero>s t-F29-t:Z4</hiero>Template:Efn sṯꜣ[19]
sṯꜣt[25] 		Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp[15]
Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp[15]		 sōt
steiōhe 		1 10,000 2,756.5Script error: No such module "String".m2

During the Middle and New Kingdom, the "eighth", "fourth", "half", and "thousand" units were taken to refer to the setat rather than the cubit strip:

Sa
Eighth 		<hiero>G39</hiero>Template:Efn sꜣ <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄8 1,250 345Script error: No such module "String".m2
Heseb
Fourth 		<hiero>Z9</hiero>Template:Efn hsb
r-fdw		 Template:1/4 2,500 689Script error: No such module "String".m2
Gs
Remen
Half 		<hiero>Aa13</hiero>Template:Efn gs Script error: No such module "Lang".[15] rermē Template:1/2 5,000 1378Script error: No such module "String".m2
Kha
Thousand 		<hiero>M12</hiero>Template:Efn ḫꜣ
ḫꜣ tꜣ		 10 100,000 2.76Script error: No such module "String".ha

During the Ptolemaic period, the cubit strip square was surveyed using a length of 96 cubits rather than 100, although the aroura was still figured to compose 2,756.25Script error: No such module "String".m2.[12] A 36Script error: No such module "String".squareScript error: No such module "String".cubit area was known as a kalamos and a 144Script error: No such module "String".squareScript error: No such module "String".cubit area as a hamma.[12] The uncommon bikos may have been <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1+1⁄2Script error: No such module "String".hammata or another name for the cubit strip.[12] The Coptic shipa (Script error: No such module "Lang".) was a land unit of uncertain value, possibly derived from Nubia.Template:Sfnp

Volume

File:Bronze vessel used a capacity measure. Inscribed with the cartouches of the birth-name and throne name of Amenhotep III. 18th Dynasty. From Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg
A bronze capacity measure inscribed with the cartouches of the birth and throne names of Amenhotep III of the 18th Dynasty

Units of volume appear in the mathematical papyri. For example, computing the volume of a circular granary in RMPScript error: No such module "String".42 involves cubic cubits, khar, heqats, and quadruple heqats.[4][7] RMPScript error: No such module "String".80 divides heqats of grain into smaller henu.

File:RMP-80.jpg
Problem 80 on the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus: As for vessels (debeh) used in measuring grain by the functionaries of the granary: done into henu, 1 hekat makes 10; Template:1/2 makes 5; Template:1/4 makes <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />2+1⁄2; etc.[4][7]
Units of Volume[4][1]
Names Equivalents
English Egyptian Heqats Ro Metric
Ro <hiero>r</hiero> r <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄320 1 0.015Script error: No such module "String".L
Dja dja <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄16 20[27] 0.30Script error: No such module "String".L
Jar
Hinu 		<hiero>h-n:W24*V1-W22</hiero> hnw <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄10 32 0.48Script error: No such module "String".L
Barrel
Heqat
Hekat 		<hiero>U9</hiero> hqt 1 320 4.8Script error: No such module "String".L
DoubleScript error: No such module "String".Barrel
Double Heqat
Double Hekat 		hqty 2 640 9.6Script error: No such module "String".L
Quadruple HeqatScript error: No such module "String".(MK)[28]
Oipe[29] (NK)[28] 		<hiero>T14-U9</hiero>
<hiero>-i-p:t-U9-</hiero>		 hqt-fdw
jpt[14]
ipt[28] 		4 1,280 19.2Script error: No such module "String".L
Sack
Khar 		<hiero>Aa1:r</hiero> khar 20Script error: No such module "String".(MK)
16Script error: No such module "String".(NK)[30] 		6,400Script error: No such module "String".(MK)
5120Script error: No such module "String".(NK) 		96.5Script error: No such module "String".LScript error: No such module "String".(MK)
76.8Script error: No such module "String".LScript error: No such module "String".(NK)[30]
Deny
CubicScript error: No such module "String".cubit 		deny 30 9,600 144Script error: No such module "String".L

The oipe was also formerly romanized as the apet.[31]

Weight

File:Green glazed faience weight, inscribed for the high Steward Aabeni. Late Middle Kingdom. From Abydos, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg
Green glazed faience weight discovered at Abydos, inscribed for the high steward Aabeni during the late Middle Kingdom
File:Serpentine weight of 10 daric. Inscribed for Taharqa in the midst of Sais. 25th Dynasty. From Egypt, probably from Nesaft. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg
Serpentine weight of 10 daric, inscribed for Taharqa during the 25th Dynasty

Weights were measured in terms of deben. This unit would have been equivalent to 13.6 grams in the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom. During the New Kingdom however it was equivalent to 91 grams. For smaller amounts the qedet (<templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄10 of a deben) and the shematy (<templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄12 of a deben) were used.[1][7]

Units of Weight[1]
Names Equivalents
English Egyptian Debens Metric
Piece
Shematy 		shȝts <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄12
Qedet
Kedet
Kite 		<hiero>Aa28-X1:S106</hiero> qdt <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄10
Deben <hiero>D46-D58-N35:F46</hiero> dbn 1 13.6 g (OK & MK)
91 g (NK)

The qedet or kedet is also often known as the kite, from the Coptic form of the same name (Script error: No such module "Lang". or Script error: No such module "Lang".).Template:Sfnp In 19th-century sources, the deben and qedet are often mistakenly transliterated as the uten and kat respectively, although this was corrected by the 20th century.Template:Sfnp

Time

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The former annual flooding of the Nile organized prehistoric and ancient Egypt into three seasons: Akhet ("Flood"), Peret ("Growth"), and Shemu or Shomu ("Low Water" or "Harvest").[32]Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

The Egyptian civil calendar in place by Dynasty VTemplate:Sfnp followed regnal eras resetting with the ascension of each new pharaoh.[33] It was based on the solar year and apparently initiated during a heliacal rising of Sirius following a recognition of its rough correlation with the onset of the Nile flood.Template:Sfnp It followed none of these consistently, however. Its year was divided into 3 seasons, 12 months, 36 decans, or 360 days with another 5 epagomenal daysTemplate:Sfnp—celebrated as the birthdays of five major godsTemplate:Sfnp but feared for their ill luckTemplate:Sfnp—added "upon the year". The Egyptian months were originally simply numbered within each seasonTemplate:Sfnp but, in later sources, they acquired names from the year's major festivalsTemplate:Sfnp and the three decans of each one were distinguished as "first", "middle", and "last".Template:Sfnp It has been suggested that during the Nineteenth Dynasty and the Twentieth Dynasty the last two days of each decan were usually treated as a kind of weekend for the royal craftsmen, with royal artisans free from work.Template:Sfnp This scheme lacked any provision for leap year intercalation until the introduction of the Alexandrian calendar by Augustus in the 20sScript error: No such module "String".BC, causing it to slowly move through the Sothic cycle against the solar, Sothic, and Julian years.[4][2][34] Dates were typically given in a YMD format.[33]

The civil calendar was apparently preceded by an observational lunar calendar which was eventually made lunisolarTemplate:Efn and fixed to the civil calendar, probably in 357Script error: No such module "String".BC.Template:Sfnp The months of these calendars were known as "temple months"Template:Sfnp and used for liturgical purposes until the closing of Egypt's pagan temples under Theodosius I[35] in the ADScript error: No such module "String".390s and the subsequent suppression of individual worship by his successors.Template:Sfn

Smaller units of time were vague approximations for most of Egyptian history. Hours—known by a variant of the word for "stars"Template:Sfnp—were initially only demarcated at night and varied in length. They were measured using decan stars and by water clocks. Equal 24-part divisions of the day were only introduced in 127Script error: No such module "String".BC. Division of these hours into 60 equal minutes is attested in Ptolemy's 2nd-century works.

Units of Time[4][1]
Name Days
English Egyptian
hour <hiero>E34:N35-W24:X1-N14:N5</hiero>Template:Efn Script error: No such module "Lang". variable
day <hiero>S29-S29-S29-Z7-N5</hiero>Template:Efn Script error: No such module "Lang". 1
decan
decade
week		 <hiero>S29-S29-S29-Z7-N5-V20</hiero>Template:Efn "ten-day"
Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Sfnp 		10
month <hiero>N11:N14-D46:N5</hiero>Template:Efn Script error: No such module "Lang". 30
season <hiero>M17-X1:D21-G43-M6</hiero> Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Efn 120
year <hiero>M4-X1:Z1</hiero>Template:Efn Script error: No such module "Lang". 365
<templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />365+1⁄4

See also

Notes

Template:Noteslist

References

Citations

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Corinna Rossi, Architecture and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt, Cambridge University Press, 2007
  2. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Template:Harvp.
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Template:Harvp.
  9. ↑ a b c Template:Harvp.
  10. ↑ a b Template:Harvp.
  11. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  12. ↑ a b c d e f g Template:Harvp.
  13. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Template:Harvp.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  15. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  16. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  17. ↑ a b Template:Harvp.
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  19. ↑ a b c Template:Harvp.
  20. ↑ Template:Harvp.
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  24. ↑ Digital Egypt: Measuring area in Ancient Egypt
  25. ↑ a b c d e f g h Template:Harvp.
  26. ↑ a b c d Template:Harvp.
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".. Template:In lang
  28. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  30. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  32. ↑ Template:Harvp.
  33. ↑ a b Template:Harvp.
  34. ↑ Marshall Clagett, Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy, 1989
  35. ↑ Theodosian Code 16.10.12

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Bibliography

  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"., a review of Clagett's Ancient Egyptian Science, Vols. I & II.
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".. Template:In lang
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..

External links

Script error: No such module "Navbox".


sl:Stare uteži in mere#Egipčanski sistem

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Ancient_Egyptian_units_of_measurement&oldid=1655780"