20,000 cubits (6.5 miles) and was used to measure land dis-
tances, originally representing the length of a day’s towing of
a boat along the Nile. Textual evidence from the Twelft h Dy-
nasty (ca. 1991–ca. 1783 b.c.e.) refers to an offi cial estimation
of the Egyptian land, from Elephantine in the south to Tell
el-Balamun in the delta, at 106 itrw (670 miles), divided into
86 itrw for Upper Egypt and 20 itrw for Lower Egypt.
Th e basic measure of area was the stat, which represented
a square of land of 100 by 100 cubits, or 1 khet by 1 khet
(3,271.38 square yards). Multiples and submultiples were not
defi ned by squaring multiples or submultiples but rather by
multiplying or dividing the width while retaining the length
as 100 cubits.
Volume measures were based on the denit, which was a
cubic cubit (0.187 cubic yards). In the Ptolemaic Period (304–
30 b.c.e.) volume and capacity measures seem to have been
linked, but the absolute norms on which this relationship was
based are still uncertain. Th is measure was used exclusively
for calculating the progress made by workers in the excava-
tion of a tomb.
Th e saqed expressed the slope of a masonry massive, such
as a pyramid, by giving the length in palms of the horizontal
base of a right triangle of 1 cubit high, whose hypotenuse was
a section of the expected or measured slope. In Old Kingdom
construction, for instance, there is clear evidence for the use
of a saqed of 5.5 palms or 5.25 palms, corresponding to slopes
of 51°51 ́ and 53°7 ́, respectively, as notably illustrated in the
Giza pyramids.
Ancient Egyptians’ basic unit of weight was called a de-
ben. From the Old Kingdom the deben seems to have been
around 0.48 ounces; it increased during the Middle Kingdom
to 3.2 ounces. In the New Kingdom it was divided into 10 qite
of 0.32 ounces each, with lesser weights expressed as fractions
of qite.
As early as 1300 b.c.e. the Egyptians had developed ac-
curate balance-beam scales that could weigh small quanti-
ties or materials with an accuracy of plus or minus 1 percent.
Th e scales were simple in concept and consisted of a hori-
zontal beam centered on a vertical post. Suspended from the
ends of the beam were the platforms. One platform held the
object or material to be weighed. Th e other held an object of
known weight.THE MIDDLE EAST
BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL
People living in the ancient Near East standardized weights
and measures so that they could accurately measure quanti-
ties—by weight and volume—of commodities important in
their lives. Th ese included seed, precious metals like silver
and gold, base metals like copper and lead, and liquids like
oils, beer, and wine. In conducting transactions with other
peoples, traders used their own systems of weights and mea-
sures and calculated conversions to other systems developed
by their trading partners, such as Egypt and the Indus Valley,referring to such alien systems in their economic texts with a
phrase like “according to the standard of Land X.”
Archaeologists and Assyriologists have been able to re-
construct the weights and measures of Mesopotamian civili-
zations because of the survival of both the weights themselves
(and occasionally balance mechanisms as well) and written
sources that give detailed calculations of commodities, ev-
erything from gold to grain. In some cases, annotations were
inscribed on the rims or shoulders of storage jars, indicating
a vessel’s capacity in volumetric terms.
Th e shiklu, or shekel, was the basic unit of weight. One
shekel weighed about 0.3 ounces. Small items were measured
in she, which was 1⁄600 ounce and originally represented the
weight of a single grain of barley. Larger items were measured
in manu, usually called minas in English, which was a unit
of 60 shekels, or in biltu, which was a unit of 60 minas. Al-
though these terms were used widely throughout the ancient
Near East, the absolute value of these weights varied so that
the mina of Ur around 2000 b.c.e. is not necessarily the same
as the mina of Ugarit 500 years later. Most weights were made
of stone, many in the shape of a duck with its head and neck
lying on its back, as though the bird were asleep. Fine, barrel-
shaped weights of hematite were also common.
Th e Old Testament mentions seven diff erent kinds of
weights, which were equivalent to coins. In biblical times
people used units of weight to barter goods for silver, long be-
fore silver was minted into actual coins. One Mesopotamian
biltu was equivalent to 1 talent, the largest measure of weight
in biblical and ancient times. One talent of gold was some-
where between 50 and 100 pounds of gold; it represented ei-
ther a man’s weight in gold or the amount of gold one man
could carry, depending on who was defi ning it. Th e biblicalBronze duck weight, found in the treasury at Persepolis, Persia
(modern-day Iran) (Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of
Chicago)weights and measures: The Middle East 11750895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1175 1175 10/10/07 2:31:20 PM