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Cubit rods were used for the measurement of length. A number of these rods have survived: two are known from the tomb of Maya, the treasurer of the 18th dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun, in Saqqara; another was found in the tomb of Kha in Thebes. Fourteen such rods, including one double cubit rod, were described and compared by Lepsius in 1865. [7]
Units of surface measurement Unit Greek name Equal to Modern equivalent Description pous πούς: 0.095 m 2 (1.02 sq ft) square foot hexapodēs ἑξαπόδης: 36 podes 3.42 m 2 (36.8 sq ft) square six-foot akaina ἄκαινα: 100 podes 9.50 m 2 (102.3 sq ft) rod hēmiektos ἡμίεκτος: 833 + 1 ⁄ 3 podes 79.2 m 2 (853 sq ft) half ...
Detail of a cubit rod in the Museo Egizio of Turin The earliest recorded systems of weights and measures originate in the 3rd or 4th millennium BC. Even the very earliest civilizations needed measurement for purposes of agriculture, construction and trade. Early standard units might only have applied to a single community or small region, with every area developing its own standards for ...
The palm was not a major unit in ancient Mesopotamia but appeared in ancient Israel as the tefah, [7] tepah, [8] or topah [8] (Hebrew: טפח, lit. "a spread"). [9] Scholars were long uncertain as to whether this was reckoned using the Egyptian or Babylonian cubit, [7] but now believe it to have approximated the Egyptian "Greek cubit", giving a value for the palm of about 74 mm or 2.9 in. [8]
The digit, also called a finger or fingerbreadth, is a unit of measurement originally based on the breadth of a human finger. In Ancient Egypt it was the basic unit of subdivision of the cubit. [1] On surviving Ancient Egyptian cubit-rods, the royal cubit is divided into seven palms of four digits or fingers each. [3]
Fourteen of these were described and compared by Lepsius in 1865. [7] Flinders Petrie reported on a rod that shows a length of 520.5 mm, a few millimetres less than the Egyptian cubit . [ 8 ] A slate measuring rod was also found, divided into fractions of a Royal Cubit and dating to the time of Akhenaten .
The measurement for silks was equal to 25 inches, and for linen and woolens it was equal to 27 inches. [4] The piki was sometimes regarded as equal to a metre and a kilometre was called a stadion. [4] The metre was introduced in a royal decree of 1836, and was originally subdivided in 10 palms, 100 digits and 1000 lines. [3]
This is a list of obsolete units of measurement, organized by type. These units of measurement are typically no longer used, though some may be in limited use in various regions. For units of measurement that are unusual but not necessarily obsolete, see List of unusual units of measurement .